Never Say Never Rachael Sommers (story read aloud txt) 📖

another. And I…I’ve seen the way you look at her, and I’ve seen her all but melt around you. That’s why I didn’t tag along last night—I didn’t want to be a third wheel.”

“I wish you had come with us,” Emily said. “Maybe you could have saved me from being an idiot.”

She knew it would have happened anyway eventually. She would have kissed Camila again at some point—but at least it might have been on familiar territory and without an eight-hour flight looming ahead.

“Look, I realize I don’t really know you all that well, but I do know you’re not an idiot.”

“I feel like one.” Emily sighed, running a hand through her unbrushed hair and leaning back in her seat. “I fucked up everything, and now she won’t even look at me.”

“She’ll get over it,” Jessica said, and Emily wanted to believe that she would, because Jessica knew Camila better than most people, having spent many days at her side.

“And if she doesn’t?”

Jessica didn’t answer, but she stayed close and tried to distract her with a one-sided conversation as they waited.

Emily was grateful that Jessica was there. More than anything, she was touched that Jessica even cared.

Camila and Jaime once again waited until the last minute to board, and still Camila didn’t look at her as the two of them took the seats in front of Emily and Jessica. Jaime yelled her name and tried to wriggle out of Camila’s grip.

She wouldn’t put it past Camila if she had tried to change seats.

Once they were in the air, Jaime sat with her. He was a good distraction. First he wanted to read a book, then he watched some cartoons, and when he asked if he could color, Emily drew pictures of whatever he asked for and handed him the sketch pad.

But when he returned to his seat to sleep, Emily became restless. Her mind swirled with the memory of Camila’s skin under her fingertips, Camila’s mouth against hers, the look in Camila’s eyes as she told Emily it could never happen again.

She desperately needed to sleep, but her mind wouldn’t rest. She couldn’t concentrate to read or watch a movie, so she pulled her sketch pad out of her bag and opened it to a clean page.

She glanced out the window hoping for inspiration, but they were over the ocean and would be for a while, so instead she flicked through photos of the trip until she found one she wanted to re-create.

It was the day she took Jaime to ride the London Eye, the giant Ferris wheel on the South Bank of the Thames. She had taken a dozen photos of the city’s landmarks from the top—Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul’s Cathedral—and setting the phone down, she began to sketch.

She focused on the drawing in a way she hadn’t in a long time, hunched over the pad and losing herself in the scratch of pencil against paper.

When she was done, she leaned back and stretched. Beside her, Jessica whistled, and Emily turned to find her looking at the page with reverence in her eyes.

“Wow, you’re really good.”

“It’s okay.” Emily glanced at the drawing with a critical eye.

“Are you kidding?” Jessica raised her eyebrows. “Emily, that’s amazing.”

“Thanks.” She flushed, not used to praise, and turned to a fresh page, biting on the end of her pencil as she thought about what to draw next.

She decided to go stream of consciousness, drawing whatever came into her head. When she realized she had drawn a pair of dark and stormy eyes shaped like Camila’s, she slammed the book shut, her inspiration evaporating.

Instead she pulled out her laptop and lost herself in a YouTube loop until she dozed off.

When she woke up, Jaime was sitting on Jessica’s knee. As soon as he noticed she was awake, he climbed over the armrest and wrapped his arms around her neck. She hugged him back, holding him close.

“What’s this for?” she asked when he wouldn’t let go, but he only squeezed her tighter.

“You looked sad.” His voice wavered a little, and it broke her heart that he was trying to comfort her, and she bit her bottom lip to keep from crying.

“I’m okay, buddy,” she whispered in his ear, and he leaned back to look at her.

“Are you and my mom fighting again?”

How could she even answer that? How did she begin to explain what had happened in a way he might understand?

When she finally answered, she chose her words carefully. “I… Your mom isn’t happy with me right now.”

“Did you say sorry? When she’s mad at me, I say sorry, and then it’s okay again.”

“I don’t think sorry can fix this, buddy.” She wished it was that simple, but it wasn’t. It would take more than an apology to heal the rift between them.

Not that she really needed to apologize. Camila had kissed her back, had maybe even started it—or maybe both of them had leaned in at the same time. Emily couldn’t remember.

She didn’t know where they would go from here, but she was glad she had a few days to gather herself, some space to clear her head.

When the seat belt signs came on, Jaime returned to sit with Camila.

Emily was relieved when the plane touched down because she was home, and she only had to hold herself together a little longer. The time difference between London and New York meant that they landed in early afternoon. Emily was bone-tired as they went through customs, grateful that Jessica engaged Camila in talk about work.

Once they had retrieved their bags, they found Camila’s driver waiting to take her, Jaime, and Jessica back into the city. Emily spotted Cassie and Maia a short distance away. She waved, then squatted down to face Jaime.

“Have a good Christmas, buddy.” He hugged her tight, like he didn’t want her to leave. “I’ll see you soon.”

“I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too.” She gave him one last squeeze before rising to her feet. “Have a good holiday,