“What’s up?” I mirror her position.
“I need to ask you something.” Her cheeks go red.
“Ask away.”
“Will you be my boyfriend?”
I bolt upright. “No.”
“No?!”
“I’m supposed to ask you!”
“Who said so?”
“You.”
“Okay, maybe, but you dragged your feet?—”
I point a finger at her. “You wanted this.”
“Wanted what?” She plays dumb, but from the glint in her eyes, she knows I’m right.
“Brat.”
“What are you going to do about it? Say no?” Sutton sits up, crossing her arms.
“No, I’m saying yes. You. Are. My. Girlfriend.” I sneak a kiss between the words, moving until she’s pinned underneath me. Hair spilled out around her as a red halo.
Sutton laughs manically. “You might have won this round, but just wait,” I say as a promise.
We make out till the credits begin to roll.
“I was going to ask you tonight.”
“You’re just saying that.”
I sit up, straddling her thighs, and pull out the bracelets from my back pocket. The first is a friendship bracelet that saysWill you be my girlfriend. The other is as close to a replica of her other one as I could find. A few charms are different. ACfor me, a skate, a book, flowers, a paintbrush for Meave, a bike for Elliot, a bear for Lakeland, and a sun.
“Gimme your right hand.” She’s left-handed and hates wearing jewelry on that hand. I push the first bracelet on her wrist, spin it so she can read it. “Told ya.”
“Cute.”
“Cute?”
“I’d have said yes.”
I roll my eyes at her. “And so enthusiastic about it.”
She shrugs, then I put the other bracelet on her. Eyes widen. “Is that…is that my bracelet?”
THIRTY-NINE
SUTTON
“A similar one.”Cooper runs the tip of tongue from the right to center of his lips before tugging his heavier—almost like it’s been stung by a bee or freshly kissed—bottom lip between his teeth. “I?—”
Without skipping a beat, three words roll off my tongue. “I love it.” I do, even though it makes me miss the original one. It’s been gone for years. Forgotten somewhere in a trash dump by now. “Thank you,boyfriend.”
