I felt... I wasn’t sure I could put in words.
It was a strange feeling, but in a good way. There was no chaos in my head, no tangle of thoughts. As if finally talking to Winter and admitting my fears to him, admitting that I wanted to try pushing myself, and admitting we were now dating, it seemed to calm the noise in my head.
For the first time in my life, my heart was doing the talking.
When I finally climbed into bed, I grabbed my phone and typed out a quick internet search.
What does love feel like?
CHAPTER TWELVE
WINTER
All I could do wassigh.
And swoon.
I showed Ro my phone screen. “He quoted The Beatles. The freaking Beatles.” I sighed, not for the first time. “How is he even real?” I could have nearly cried.
If he fell in love with me, would I help him understand because love was more than holding hands.
“Could he be any more perfect?”
Ro shook her head at me. Also, it might not have been the first time I’d asked that today, or talked about him, or told her about the palm-tracing thing, or swooned.
“Go and get something to eat,” she ordered. She tapped the watch she wasn’t wearing. “I’m only here for an hour to cover your lunch break. The boys are at home by themselves.”
I grimaced. “Did they hate the new crate?”
I didn’t love the idea of a crate, but it was safer for them. Especially when they had to spend time at home by themselves. Like now.
She gave me a dead-eyed glare that told me I should know better than to doubt her, and she pointed to the door.
“Okay, okay,” I grumbled, pulling on my coat and scarf. “I’m going.”
Jeesh.
The diner was warm and busy, full of delicious aromas and happy chatter. Jayden was working today, and he looked up from the back of the kitchen when he heard me order.
He gave me a wave. “Hey, Win,” he said, tucking a dish towel into his apron. “How you goin’?”
Uh . . . “Going? What’s going where?”
“He means, how are you doing,” Hamish said, suddenly appearing beside me. “It’s an Aussie thing.”
“Oh,” I replied with a laugh. “Right.”
Jayden came over, grin wide. “Is this a planned lunch break ’cause I didn’t get the memo. Or the invite.”
“Uh, no,” I said. “Ro sent me on a break. Actually, it was more of a threat, but you know. Same thing.”
Hamish grinned and pointed his thumb at me. “And I saw him walk in from across the street, so here I am. Here for all the goss.” Then he shrugged. “And two lunch specials to go, please. I told Ren I was getting him food.”
“Two for me to go as well,” I added. “Whatever the lunch special is.” I didn’t even know what it was. But I hadn’t had one bad thing from here yet.
We each paid at the register. “Sure thing, boys,” Crystal said. “Take a seat, I’ll bring it over.”
Surprising me, Jayden slid into a booth with us. “I can take a fiver.”
