Page 46 of Dotted Lines (Runaway 5)

The twist in my chest was so tight I struggled to breathe. She was right. The best thing was for Karson to move on. But I wasn’t ready to give him up. Not yet. Not after last night.

“You slept in the tent again,” she said.

“We played cards pretty late. I didn’t want to wake you,” I lied.

Today was not the day to tell Aria I’d given Karson my virginity.

The sound of a slamming door echoed across the yard. Aria and I both turned toward the shop door, recognizing the sound.

Karson had disappeared to the bathroom.

“I’m going to go get my shoes.” I left Aria’s side and hurried to the tent, scanning around Karson’s bed for anything I might have left behind. Only my shoes and socks remained. The condom he’d worn last night was gone, along with the wrapper.

I blushed and took a moment to breathe before I had to face my sister again.

Should I tell her? It would make it all easier if she knew what had happened, right? There’d be no sneaking around. Right. I’d just tell her. Decision made, I stepped into my shoes and found her in the truck. I climbed inside as she was making her bed.

“I, um . . .” Tell her.

The words clogged my throat.

Why was I so scared to confess that I’d been with Karson? I was in love with him. People in love had sex. But I couldn’t get my mouth to form the sentence.

“Um, what?”

“Nothing.” I swallowed hard. “Once Karson is done, I’m going to take a shower too. Then we should talk.”

“I’m just glad I showered before the cops showed up.” She plopped down on her bed. “They totally would have seen me coming out of the shop.”

“Maybe we should start showering at night.”

“Maybe.” Her gaze was focused on the truck wall, her forehead furrowed. She was staring at today’s number.

One.

It wouldn’t matter when we showered because today was our last day.

Tonight was our last night.

The urge to cry came on so strong I almost dropped to my knees.

The shop door slammed again, this time not as loud. I blinked the tears away and collected my soap and towel, then went to the shop, finally breathing when I was under the warm spray.

I hated the idea of washing away Karson’s kisses. His touches. My body was sore in places I’d never been sore before, and the tenderness between my legs was going to make work difficult today. It was my last shift at the diner.

Still, despite the ache, a smile toyed at my lips as I toweled off.

Karson and I had had sex. We’d been as intimate as two people could get.

Would he change his mind about Vegas now? Did he feel the same way about me that I felt about him?

Dressed in fresh clothes and smelling like my soap, I hurried to the truck, finding Karson already there, waiting with Aria.

“Hey.” I gave him a tiny smile.

With his back to Aria, he winked at me. “Hey.”

“So what do we do?” Aria hopped out of the truck to pace beside her buckets of plants.