“Come on, JJ, let’s go say hi to Devon together.” She took theballoons from Josh and winked at Rebecca as she gathered her pocketbook and wrapped one arm around JJ’s shoulders. “So what do you think he’ll want to eat first?”
They disappeared down the hall, leaving Rebecca and Josh alone.
He nodded his chin in the direction of the room. “Shall we?”
They walked toward the room, their shoes making soft squeaks on the smooth hospital tile. She looked over at him.
“You know, this is the first time I’ve met Memaw.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Really?”
“First time I’ve been out of Devon’s room, actually. At first I was just too nervous, and then, well. I didn’t want to let him out of my sight.”
“I understand.”
They stopped near the end of the hall. Four-fourteen, the sign on the closed door said, with “Robinson” scrawled in dry-erase marker below.
They were quiet a moment, looking at each other.
“Josh—I need to tell you something.”
He blinked. “It’s okay.”
“No, hear me out.” She looked down, swallowed. “There’s nothing going on between me and Erik Wennerman. You didn’t answer my text over the weekend, but—”
“I try not to look at my phone on Sundays …”
“Josh.”
“… and, to be perfectly honest, I needed some time to think.”
She bit her lip. No games. Just real. “I get that. But if you’d given me half a chance to explain, I could have told you he was trying to dance with me, Josh. I was trying my best to back away when he kissed me. And if you’d stayed two seconds longer you would have seen that.”
Now it was Josh’s turn to look down. “He looked awfully comfortable with you.”
“That’s not exactly my fault, is it? You didn’t stick around to see me shove him away.”
A faint flush of red crept up his cheeks.
“Fair enough.” He cocked his head. “You really shoved him away?”
A giggle escaped despite her best efforts. “I did.”
“Go, Becks.” There was a look of admiration on his face, and she realized her own cheeks were warm, too.
Her heart was thudding. But she knew if she didn’t say it all now she wouldn’t say it at all, that it would drag on and on and fizzle into nothing. What was it Gramps used to say during those woodworking lessons? Sometimes you had to flip things upside down to expect different results.
She put a hand on his arm, the one with the flowers for Memaw, and stepped closer.
“Josh, you said it the other night—sometimes we miss the things that are right in front of our face. I’m not ready for dating with a capital D. I’m scarred and a little messed up, and I don’t know how long it’s going to take till I’m right again. But—I like you.” She swallowed. “A lot. And I’m not interested in Erik or anybody else.”
His eyes were steady, and he gazed back at her. “I like you, too.”
“But I don’t want to play stupid kid games.”
He arched a brow. “You got something against Monopoly?”
Another giggle burst from her lips, and then they were both laughing, and he hugged her, arms tight and warm around her, and she knew they were okay again. A long moment passed as they stood like that, his arms around her, her head on his chest. She could hear his heart beat slow and steady, solid.
