Alex vanishes from the window and teleports to the front door. He watches us leave, hands in his pockets. I turn in my seat so that I can make out his shadowy form until it recedes from view, then I yell nonsense at the top of my lungs. Aisling’s laughing her head off.
“Think we scared him away?” Luna muses.
“Are you kidding?” Zelda rolls her window down, slipping her hand out to allow an early summer breeze to weave between her fingers.
The sky is indigo, trees inky scribbles. We soar into town like a homing pigeon, slowing at the empty stoplights, headed toward Pit Stop Soda Shop (“Yes!” Aisling and Zelda cheer). I rest my cheek against the car door, a smile tipping up the corners of my mouth, happy to exist in the midst all these little lights hiding in a sprawl of woods and hills in southern Ohio. I can’t imagine living anywhere else. And now, it’s finally acquired the few finishing touches necessary to render it perfect. “You remember how obsessed he was with Romina back then?” Zelda adds thoughtfully. “If anything, she’s catching up.”
The following morning, Alex texts to ask if I have evening plans.No,I reply.
At six o’clock, I stroll into late golden sunshine to find his truck parked out front, two bicycles loaded into the back. One is my mint green Schwinn, the other a mountain bike I don’t recognize. “Hey, sexy!” he catcalls, beeping his horn twice.
“Thanks!” Trevor yells back, doing a twirl on the way to his car.
Alex smothers a laugh, then says to me, “I wanna take you on a date.”
“Will there be corn muffins?”
“Not telling.”
“Sharks?”
“No more guesses.”
“Bikes?” I try again, gaze sliding to the truck bed.
“How’d you know?” He waves me over. “Hop in. Can I have you for the rest of the day?”
I sniff. “Only if you make it worth my while.”
“I wasn’t going to, but all right. If you insist.” He eyes my plaid pinafore, layered over a loose white dress with puffy sleeves. “I should’ve seen right through that lie about you wearing a blazer with gold chains for a date with Trevor. Look at you. You look like you’re ready to go on a picnic in the Hundred Acre Wood.”
I gasp.
“In a good way! I love Winnie-the-Pooh. Your style—it’s veryyou.”
I take my time approaching the truck. Once I’m close, Alex lurches forward five feet, then stops. Waits for me to reach for the door before lurching ahead another five feet.
“Alexander.”
He beams at the look on my face. “Darling.”
Oh, that word does something to me, especially the way he rumbles it. I feel it in my knees. “You’d better stop that.”
He stops. Goes. Stops. Laughs.
I cross my arms over my chest. It draws his notice to the area and his eyes get a bit glassy. “I ought to go home. I’ll draw a bath and enjoy a lovely evening with myself.”
He revs the engine, daring me, while holding my gaze. “You won’t.”
Chapter Thirty-One
PETUNIA:
I like you near me.
Your eyes are like raindrops.”
I continue walking.
