Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 91 - Chapitre 100

Summer's PovRuby was standing in the middle of my room with one hand on her hip and the other holding my packed bag, looking at me like she had just finished a masterpiece."Summer," she said. "You look so beautiful right now I genuinely cannot handle it. If I walk into a room with you tonight every single man in there is going to look at you and I am going to be standing right there picking out the best one.""Ruby.""I'm serious. This is my purpose. This is what I was put on this earth to do."I laughed and it came out easy, the kind that started in your chest and just happened without any effort, and I realized I had missed this so much. Not just Ruby but this specific feeling of laughing at something that wasn't that funny but was exactly funny enough."Are you ready?" she said."Yes.""Good." She lifted my bag with a dramatic little bow. "My queen does not carry her own luggage tonight. I am making up for lost time.""You are so embarrassing.""You missed this.""I did," I admit

Crew's PovI couldn't sleep until almost three.It wasn't the planning, although there was plenty of that. Calls to make, logistics to sort, people to loop in. I had texted Kayla separately and she had responded in approximately four seconds with three exclamation points and a voice note I had to turn the volume down for. Tyler was handling the decorations with Ruby's input. Gray had taken the food. I was handling the venue and the guest list and making sure everything landed exactly right.I sat at my desk with my notebook and drew up a rough plan and then a better one and then a third version because the second one had a timing problem with the airport run and I needed Sunday to flow without gaps.Brianna's flight was early afternoon. Summer was coming back in the evening. There was a window and I was going to use it.I knew Summer was at Ruby's without having to check. I had her location from weeks ago, from the night everything with the stalker happened, and it had just stayed the

Summer's Pov Ruby had forgotten.That was the thing I kept turning over in my head the whole drive back, trying to make it make sense. Ruby never forgot. Ruby remembered the birthday of every person she had ever cared about, including a girl from primary school she hadn't spoken to in four years. It was just who she was.Why did she forget mine today? But today she had packed my bag, driven me around, collected something from a store, handed me a drink, and said absolutely nothing.I sat in the passenger seat and watched the city go past and told myself to stop expecting things from people. Not everyone made a big deal out of birthdays. Maybe she had genuinely forgotten and I shouldn’t feel terrible about it. Maybe she was planning something small for later. Maybe it really was just a date on a calendar and I needed to grow up about it.It didn't stop the small tight feeling sitting in my chest.When we pulled through the first gate the security waved us through and Ruby looked out

Summer's PovI dropped to my knees next to Gray before I even made the decision to move."Are you okay?" My hand went to his arm, his shoulder, checking. "Gray, are you hurt?""I'm fine." He pushed himself up, and I helped him, and then I turned around.Crew was still standing there. Breathing hard. Looking at Gray like he wanted to do it again."What is wrong with you?" My voice came out quieter than I expected, which was somehow worse than if I had screamed. "Why would you do that? What the hell was that?""He had no right to kiss you." Crew's jaw was tight. "There were twenty other people in that circle. Why did it have to be you?""Because it was a dare." I stared at him. "It was a game, Crew. A stupid party game. That is all it was. Why does that even matter to you? Why does any of this matter enough for you to put your hands on someone?"The circle had gone completely quiet. Nobody was pretending not to watch anymore."He's my brother," Crew said."And I'm your stepsister," I sa

Summer's Pov The lights were on when we pulled up to Tyler's house, warm yellow spilling out from the front windows onto the driveway."Mom and dad are still up," Tyler said, more to himself than to me, and cut the engine.I pulled down the sun visor mirror out of habit and immediately regretted it. My eyes were puffy, my mascara had staged a full migration down both cheeks, and my nose was still slightly pink. I looked like someone who had cried in a moving vehicle for twenty minutes, which was accurate.I flipped the mirror back up.We got out and Tyler pushed the front door open, and the first thing I heard was the television, and the first person I saw was Mrs. Chen, who turned around from the kitchen counter with a dish towel in her hand and her face already moving into a smile."Oh, Tyler, you're—" She stopped. Her eyes landed on me. "Summer! Happy birthday, sweetheart." She crossed the kitchen in about four steps and pulled me into a hug that was considerably tighter than I ha