The Sound of Shooting Stars by Heather Allen Page A

other hand calling back, “Let’s go girls. I really need something to drink.”
    We enter the spacious kitchen covered in black marble and white tile. The white cabinets extend almost to the ceiling and half are fronted with glass displaying the contents. Dani strolls over to the fridge and pulls out three beers. I take one when she offers it and look up to see Samantha sitting on a counter across the room. She is glaring at me. I smile at her and turn back to Dani but the look on Dani’s face is alarm. I follow her gaze and watch as Trina approaches Jamie who is standing close to Samantha and Jake. His back is toward us. Trina leans in close to him and loops her arm around his back while whispering into his ear.
    I look away, not feeling very well all of a sudden. Dani pulls on my arm forcing me to follow her out the door onto a long deck off the back of the house. The warm salty breeze greets my face as I step onto the wooden floor. Dani continues to pull me over to the railing. I move against the warm metal and lean into the corner. She turns on me and hisses, “I thought you were okay with that.” She nods back to the house.
    “I am okay with it.”
    “Forgive me if I don’t believe you.” She glares at me and continues, “If it was going to bother you why did you even tell Trina to go ahead and go after Jamie?”
    I square my shoulders and turn my head to look out to the dark water lit up by the full moon. When I move my face back to look at her she is even more pissed. God, we’re talking about him like he’s a possession.
    “Dani, I’m fine. I told you it’s good. I don’t want anything to do with him.”
    She’s about to bitch me out some more but Brett steps up beside her and looks down at me. A smile spreads across his lips as he mumbles, “There you are. I was looking all over for you.”
    Dani steps back and seethes, “Beckett, we aren’t done talking about this.”
    I smile sweetly, “Yes we are. There’s nothing to talk about.”
    She looks to Brett and mutters sarcastically, “Nice timing. Have fun.”
    She turns and stomps off. Gabe is just coming out of the door. She almost runs into him but he catches her. She starts talking to him and his expression changes from delighted to fearful. I don’t blame him. The brunt of Dani’s anger is never fun. Luckily Brett saved me from it.
    He steps closer causing me to back further into the corner of the railing. His breath is warm on my ear as leans in and utters, “Want to go for a walk on the beach?”
    I start to shake my head but catch movement over his shoulder. Trina is pulling Jamie out onto the porch by his hand. He looks amused by whatever she is saying. I avert my eyes and catch a glimpse of the few stars out in the distance.
    Disgusted with myself for letting Jamie affect me like this I reply through clenched teeth, “A walk sounds nice.”
    Brett grabs my hand and leads me down the steep stairs to the sand. On the last step he stops me with a hand on my shoulder as he steps into the sand. He turns and bends over to take my shoes off of my feet and places them on the bottom landing. Once they are both off he grabs both of my hands and pulls me down into the sand. It’s still warm from the sun’s heat as it spreads between my toes. I follow him to the water’s edge and my feet sink into the wet sand as the cool water retreats.
    We walk for a few minutes causing the lights from the party to become distant. When we are a good stretch away he turns toward me and gazes down into my eyes as if he’s entranced. Shit, this is all wrong . I can’t lead Brett on. He is too nice for me to do this to him again . The last time I went out with him on a ‘date’ he wanted me to mess around but I couldn’t. I didn’t have the same feelings for him that he had for me and I still don’t.
    I step back out of his grasp and look out to the water. The stars are blinking in the distance. He walks forward closing the distance between us. Before I