When Stars Fall [EBOOK and PAPERBACK PUBLISHED]

35. Wyatt - Present Day

"Ellie," I murmur. For the first time in years, the thought of her as I wake up is comforting. I reach out an arm to secure her warmth against me again. Instead, I'm met with a cold mattress. Sitting up with a frown, I rub the heels of my hands into my eyes. "Ellie?" I call out, squinting into the semi-light sneaking through the curtain. The bathroom? The balcony? Please, let her be somewhere. Anywhere but gone. When I get to the bathroom, I freeze. "Shit!" Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

Grabbing my shorts off the floor, I take out my phone, but there's nothing from her. I hit redial on Calshae's number, rubbing my forehead. This is not good. You fucked up, Wyatt.

"Need a ride?" The buzz of the hotel in the background almost drowns out her voice.

"Yes." I yank on clothes from my packed bag, pressing the phone to my ear. "To Ellie's."

A beat of silence. "Wyatt, you'll miss your flight if I take you to Ellie's right now. What happened?"

I check the clock on the bedside table and realize she's right. I'll be lucky if I make my flight as it is. Being with Ellie last night made me forget anything else existed. I didn't set an alarm. Tanvi won't ever agree to watch Jamal again if I don't show up.

"Fuck," I murmur, yanking at the tips of my hair. "I'll be down in a minute."

Tucking my dirty clothes from the floor in my bag, I practice deep breathing. I sweep the room for anything I might have left behind and try to keep a level head. Maybe it's not that bad. Maybe she'll be reasonable. Then, I stand in the bathroom doorway. A piece of paper is propped against the bottles. In giant letters, Ellie scrawled one word: LIAR. Picking up each bottle, I throw them at the shower wall. A few are glass and shatter. The sharp tang of alcohol fills the room again. Rubbing my face, I sigh and call Tommy.

"I need the name of whatever family lawyer you turned up," I say as soon as he answers.

"Hello to you, too, Wyatt. Why would you want that? Your little family promotion parade yesterday was gold. TMZ has eaten it up. They're running with their version of reality. You, Ellie, Haven—a secret family for years—everyone was duped."

"I fucked up." I sink into the desk chair. My leg bounces. I need a run. Or go box. Something physical. The flight home will kill my nerves.

Silence greets me on the other end of the line. "What'd you do?"

"I was drinking," I admit. Even saying the truth out loud is a betrayal. How could I be so stupid? "There's no way in hell Ellie's going to let me near Haven now."

"Who knows?" Tommy automatically goes into damage control mode. He's scrambling for a pen and paper, I'm sure.

"No one. The hotel owner's daughter thinks I poured them all down the drain. I think I had myself half convinced I did."

"Hmmm..." Tommy taps the pen on the table. "The owner's daughter, she believed you?"

"Yeah, I think so." I hope so.

"Bluff. Have her confirm to Ellie you weren't drinking, that you poured all of them down the drain. Come back at her hard, full of confidence."

"With what?" Adding more lies to the mix seems like a bad idea, but if I'm honest, I will sink any chance I have with Ellie and with Haven. She's not going to believe I can control the drinking.

"You and Ellie have been getting along?"

If this morning hadn't happen, I would have said we'd been getting along very well. Even before last night, there'd been an ease between us, as though we both remembered how good it could be if we just let ourselves go there. That ease will be gone now. I lean forward in the chair, resting my elbow on my knee, letting my head fall into my hand. "Yeah," I manage to croak out.