Starless Nights (Hale Brothers Series Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

are too strong to get in the water. A wooden dock leads over the dunes, held together by sea oats, and down to the beach. Coastal Pines line the backdrop and throughout the summer months you will find dozens of undisturbed turtle nests. The beach is quiet, and to us, it is our secret get-a-way.
    Leila’s family moved away when we were fourteen. On the last day that I saw her, we were sharing a bag of salt water taffy, laughing at some of the stupid things we had done together over the years, and that’s when she pulls the journal out of her bag.
    “So, I bought this for you. We’ve had years and years of adventures together and well, I would still like to be a part of yours going forward. If you’ll write them down and then share them with me, it’ll be like I never left.” I take the journal and look down at it. It’s leather, light brown, and has a long leather strap that wraps around it to tie it shut. The thoughtfulness in her gift moves me so much that without thinking I lean over and kiss her.
    It is my first kiss.
    Our first kiss.
    I know that I startled her but she doesn’t back away. Her lips are warm and her breath, as it fans across my face, smells sweet, just like the salt water taffy. Never wanting to forget this moment, I place my forehead against hers and close my eyes.
    “Thank you, Leila. I promise to write in it as much as possible.” She pulls back and her crystal blues eyes sparkle at me with happiness.
     

     
    I blink and the memory disappears. A fresh rush of anger and sadness sweeps over me.
    “Yeah, well you didn’t really give me a way to share things with you, now did you?”
    She’s watching me and it is unnerving me.
    “I can’t believe that you kept it all of these years,” she says quietly.
    “You gave it to me. Why wouldn’t I keep it?” She pauses and then abruptly ends the conversation and walks away.
    I hate watching her walk away from me. It’s such a familiar sight that I almost call out to her to stop, but I don’t. Instead, I take another look around the café to see what has now become a part of Leila’s life.
    She slips into the back and I let out a sigh. I need a minute to gather myself.
    I know that I should be doing something other than just standing here, but my mind is screaming at me.
    What do I say to her? Does she want me to say anything at all? She’s so close to where I live. Am I supposed to stop in and see her now? Does she even want me to stop in? It’s been a year, we aren’t even friends. We haven’t been for a long time. Do I want to be friends with her? I know in the end, she will hurt me like she always does.
    She comes out from the back, makes the coffee, and walks it over to me. She is so beautiful that even after all these years it still hurts to look at her. She takes my breath away. She hands me the cup and somehow I push through my nerves and attempt to talk to her. Her answers are short and then the spell of the moment is broken by the door opening.
    I watch as a guy walks in and wraps his arms around Leila. I think a part of me dies. I knew that she most likely had a boyfriend. How could she not? She is so beautiful. But to have it so suddenly shoved in my face like this, I could throw up all over again.
    She turns around in his arms to face him and I feel like a third wheel, an intruder.
    I can see by the look on this guy’s face that he deeply cares for Leila. They proceed to have a conversation that doesn’t include me and I hate every minute of it. I didn’t need to know that they were up super late and that he spent the night. Someone may as well take a dull fork and repeatedly stab me in the heart because that is what this feels like.
    “You know what Leila, I’m just gonna take this to go,” I say. I’ve had enough and can’t stand here and witness them anymore. She spins back around to face me and my heart slams into my chest. Her crystal blue eyes are piercing and seem to be filled with an apology.
    “Oh, you two