“Daisy,”Harlow warns.
“Ah crap,” I say as Daisy tries to knock the bag from my hand. I lose my grip, and it falls.
“Daisy!” Harlow scolds.
“Well, this was meant to be a surprise for after.” I pick up the bag and grab the dog cookies I bought, keeping the other item as concealed as I can. Holding the cookies up, I ask, “Is it okay?”
Harlow smiles softly and nods. Daisy sits without me having to ask, and I feed her one. I watch, delaying a moment longer to build up the courage.
“I was … I was scared,” I say. “Mikayla was my best friend from diapers until I was thirteen. What happened with her and Gabby?” My voice falters. “It crushed me. It’s taken me a long time to realize how much it’s messed me up. And that I’ve been keeping everyone in my life at arm’s length to avoid anyone ever getting close enough to hurt me, but I don’t want to do that anymore.
“I’m sorry for being distant since our conversation Friday night and for blowing off gayme night. I was trying to push you away because I wasn’t just scared—I was fucking terrified—because … I’m in love with you too, Harlow. And …”
With shaky hands, I open up the bag and pull out Rivals for Catan, the two-player version of our favorite game to play together.
“Catan?” Harlow asks, her eyebrows furrowed with obvious confusion.
“I love playing with you online. I love trying to outdo one another, finding the wildest popcorn seasonings we can. I love how you love traveling as much—if not more—than I do. And so, I don’t want to just play Catan with you over the phone, I want to play with you in person. I’m tired ofliving eight thousand miles away from everyone I care about.”
“Wait. What’re you saying?”
I give her a timid smile. “I’m saying I want a future with you too. I want to move back. My airline doesn’t have a base in the area, but there’s other airlines. I don’t care about making captain or starting over if it means I get to be close to Em and Casey, and my family, andyou, Harlow.”
She smiles, full and warm, and it makes the tension ease from my shoulders. “Really?”
I nod.
“Because I don’t want you to uproot everything for me—I meant what I said. I wouldn’t ask you to do that. I know how important your career is and?—”
“It’s not just for you. I mean, you’re a huge part of it since you’re the reason I finally stopped avoiding all my shit and started processing my trauma. But, look, the only thing that I have in California is a job. My whole life is in Michigan. It’s time I stop running from it.”
Harlow brightens. She’s never looked so radiant.
“Can I kiss you now?” I ask.
She closes the distance in two long strides and wraps her arms around me, lifting me off my feet to kiss me. Her lips are soft, and they feel like coming home. Warmth floods me, and I cup her face in my hands. Daisy’s excited barking makes us both smile when we break apart, our foreheads pressed against one another’s.
“God, I really thought you were here to break up with me,” she says after we kiss again, and she sets me down.
I cover my face with my hands. “Ugh, I’m so sorry, babe.”
“I get it,” she says softly. “I was scared too.”
I give her a dubious look. “You? When?”
She chuckles. “That’s the real reason I didn’t want a relationship. I lied when I said it was because I was too busy with The Sweet Spot. I swore off dating after Suzie because I gave up believing in love. I thought all relationships were doomed to be like my parents, so there was no point bothering with one.”
“Oh, my god, really? What changed?”
“You.” She takes my hands in hers. “I was so into your gorgeous, bratty-ass and your smart, little mouth from the first night we were together.”
I laugh. “Stop.”
“I’m serious.” She smiles. “It’s why I kept trying to avoid you. I could just feel it, if I let myself get close to you I was going to fall for you—hard. I thought us living so far apart and being casual would help me keep my feelings under control.” She shrugs and gives a cute little knowing look. “So much for that.”
“Oh, my god,” I say with a cheeky grin. “You liked me the whole time?”
“I know. I’m sorry,” she says. “It was messed up to lie and knowingly be casual with you all the while I was already falling in love with you.”
