Read Online Eyes Ever to the Sky (A Sci Fi Romance) (The Sky Trilogy) by Katie French - Free Book Online Page A

on Fer's arm. Drunk Fer equaled dangerous Fer. If Michelle wasn't careful she'd have a throat full of teeth in a minute. “Hey, Fer, come over here and look at the, uh, fire.” Fer glared over her shoulder, but let Cece drag her away. Cece glanced back as they found two lawn chairs and sat. Michelle had hooked arms with Travis and was saying, “Tell me again, what did your professor say about Emerson?”
    Cece heard Travis launch into his spiel. She thought they wouldn’t be seeing him again for a while, but sooner than five minutes later Travis was back at her side, offering her another beer. Cece smiled, but shook her head. “I’m gonna head home,” she said, stifling a yawn. “Slinging ice cream can really kill ya.”
    “Don’t I know it,” Travis said, putting down his beer. “Let me walk you.”
    Cece scanned his face—kind, sincere and expectant. But, she didn’t want him anywhere near that dump she called home.
    “It’s okay. I’m only seven blocks that way.” She pointed.
    Fer slid up beside her. “Let im walk you.” Her voice was slurred. “Frickin rapists and murders out this time a night.”
    Cece shot Fer a look, but her eyes were too red and glazed for her to notice. She turned to Travis. “Okay,” she said. “Thank you.”
    As she walked around the fire, the grass tickling her calves, she caught a glimpse of Michelle. In the darkness it was hard to tell, but was that jealousy on her face? As she and Travis hit the gravel and crunched toward home, she could still feel the burn of Michelle’s eyes on the back of her head.
    Travis walked next to her down the cracked pavement streets, kicking at loose stones and humming. The trailers were quiet now. The night insets buzzed along with the rickety A.C. units propped in people's windows. They strolled passed the Dominick's place with its yard gnomes, pink flamingos and dangling wind chimes. Travis touched one with his finger as they passed and the metal tinkled softly. Somewhere a dog howled. A car drove down the main road, bumping the deep boom of some hip hop song. Then it was quiet, except for the scuff of their shoes on the pavement.
    “ I can take it from here,” she said. They passed Fer's trailer, a double wide with the rusty carport and fake green Astro-Turfed porch stoop. Fer's mom's Chrysler was gone. Probably sleeping at her boyfriend's tonight.
    Travis shook his head. “Don't like to see a girl walk home alone.” His eyes flicked over to her. “Not that it's some male chauvinist thing. Not that I think women can't take care of themselves.”
    “I know what you mean,” she said, putting him out of his misery. The moonlight highlighted the gold in his blond hair. He chewed on strands of his soul patch with his top teeth as he walked. His eyes were red, stoner's eyes, but still as kind and endearing as ever. She had no idea how she felt about Travis walking quietly beside her. His arm brushed so close her skin tingled.
    “ So, you think Michelle is cool?” Cece asked, as they passed Ms. Howard's trailer. The ceramic Virgin Mary prayed inside her concrete shelter.
    Travis shrugged his slim shoulders. “She's alright.” He kicked a stone and it skittered into a flowerbed. “I feel bad for her. Her dad's real strict. And her boyfriend’s a douche.”
    Cece looked up at Travis. “That's the first negative thing I've ever heard you say.”
    Travis frowned. “Sorry.”
    Cece shook her head. “Don't be. You see the best in everyone, so Michelle's boyfriend must really be a douche.”
    Travis smiled. “He is.”
    They turned the corner and her trailer came into view. Her heart stopped. Her living room light was on. Mama must've found her bed empty.
    Mama would kill her.
                 

CHAPTER ELEVE N — LITTLE MACK
    Wednesday 12:34 a.m.
     
     
    When the whiskey was gone, Little Mack let the glass bottle clink to the pavement. He watched it roll back and forth on its side, his bleary eyes separating it into two