“Do you want to come with me to the Brothers Three Orchard?”
“I’ve never been there.”
“It’s a little over an hour away.”
“Actually, that sounds fun. Let me go change. I’ll meet you back in an hour?”
“That works.”
“Let me just help you clean up.”
“Nah. Don’t worry about it. I got it.”
“Okay, I’ll let you do the dishes.” She leaned in and kissed me.
It was so natural and easy, that I felt something in my chest twist. She darted outside with a grin over her shoulder. I chased after her, making sure Velma didn’t follow us out.
“Wait. You need a code to get out. Or my app.”
She paused at the gate. “Oh, wow. That’s some serious hardware.”
“Yeah. Things got a little dicey when I first came into my money.”
She laid a hand on my arm. “I’m sorry you know what that’s like.” There was a wealth of knowledge in her eyes.
I waved my phone over the sensor and the lock clicked. She waved before she darted across the field to the pass-through between our properties.
I was in trouble.
Because I didn’t really want her to leave.
13
amber
Sneakinginto my house like a teenager was humbling. Especially when my mother was already up and waiting for me in the kitchen.
“Amber Noel Dalton.”
“Ahh geez, Mom.”
“Did you forget to come home last night?”
“Um...sort of. I fell asleep on Tate’s couch.”
She arched a brow at me. “His couch?”
I cleared my throat. “I’m just going to go take a shower.”
“Hmm.”
Ignoring her narrowed eyes, I sprinted up the stairs to my room. The last few steps left a twinge. I was sore in all the best ways.
I pulled out my phone and winced at the half a dozen texts waiting for me. I’d been ignoring my phone for days now and after the videos of Tate and me on the night of the parade, a few of my friends were dying to know who he was.
I skipped over most of the messages, and winced at Stevie, my manager’s, eleven texts. I’d have to deal with that later.Cindy’s stream of conscious texts gave me a clue as to how bad it was.
Cindy:
