She coughed. Man, she needed water. Her throat was practically sticking to itself.
Footsteps rustled and snapped in the woods. Sarah lifted onto her elbows. A man’s form, stepping onto the beach, well-built, tall. Her heart starting to race. Derek? Coming to finish what they started?
“Sarah?”
Joe. Her heart slowed. She sat up. “Yes, it’s me.”
“What are you doing out here?”
“Couldn’t sleep. How did you know where I was?”
“I heard you leave, didn’t hear you come back so I came looking.” He plunked down on the grass beside her and handed her something cool.
A can of sparkling water. “Joe, you are a god.”
“Wait, you’re only realizing that now?”
“No, no, I knew.” She cracked the top to the can and took a long, grateful drink. “Heaven. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. So what are you doing out here besides not sleeping?”
“Watching for shooting stars. Thinking.”
“About what?” He scootched down to lie next to her. His warm side adjacent to her hip made her realize she’d gotten chilly.
“About...how I always fall for guys who don’t want me.”
“No kidding. You’re batting about a thousand on that one.”
“Ha.” Sarah giggled. “Thanks for the vote of support.”
“I mean how can anyone be so clueless?”
“Hey.” She shoved him with her hip. “Your deep empathy is much appreciated.”
“You can’t see what’s right under your nose, Sarah Bosson.” His voice descended to a melodramatic growl.
“Okay, okay. So what do I do?”
“Come to Dr. Joe. He will rewire your brain using everyday household items.”
Sarah’s laughter was interrupted by a horrific burp from the soda bubbles. She laughed harder. “Oh, no! Joe, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine, don’t worry, really. I still have hearing in my other ear.”
“Stop, stop.” She waited for her giggles to die out, loving that she could belch in front of Joe and not feel more than slightly embarrassed. He had no illusions she was perfect. He had no illusions about her at all. And for some reason he still wanted to be her friend.
They’d met at Vassar and became close right away. After graduating they’d both moved to Boston where she got a job fund-raising for Harvard and he did something with computers she couldn’t begin to understand. They saw each other a few times a month and talked and texted often. He was her absolute rock. She’d die without him. “Anyway, so I was thinking about this one unattainable guy who—”
“Derek.”
Sarah’s jaw dropped. That was psychic, even for him. Or maybe she was pathetically obvious. “How did you know?”
“You mooned over him all night.”
“I did not!” Yup. Pathetic.
“Because he’s so hunky and sexy and sooo super hot!”
Sarah made a sound of exasperation. “Well, he is.”
“I know, I know.” Joe’s sigh was heavy in the darkness. “Go ahead, Sarah, talk. You know I can take it.”
“Well, I have to tell you something.” She hunched her shoulders, hugging her knees, hoping he wouldn’t be angry. “That night with Derek on the beach.”
His body tensed next to her. “Yes?”
“He didn’t attack me. I was drunk and I sort of...tried to make something happen.”
“I figured it was something like that.”
“Wait, what?” She released her knee to whap his shoulder. “How dare you undermine the power of my dramatic bombshell?”
“Aw, Sarah.” He reached up to push her bangs off her face, let his fingers drift tenderly down her cheek. “I’ve known you for nine years. If you were really attacked by some guy, he wouldn’t live long enough to see the next day, let alone the next five years. The way Paul talks about this guy, the way you talk about him, it didn’t add up. I didn’t know exactly what happened, but I’m not surprised.”
She lay down next to him, throat tight. “You don’t blame me?”
“For what?”
“Lying?”