I giggle. “No clue, huh?”
He walks me toward the front door of our cabin. “The problem is actually that I have too many ideas, and I have to settle for just one night’s worth.”
I gaze up at his beautiful blue eyes. “Play your cards right, and we can do everything you have in mind because there will be plenty of dates.”
He gives me a smug look. “I already know there will be plenty. Now that we’ve made it this far, I’m not screwing this up. You’re stuck with me.”
“Oh, crap!” I tease as I open the door and take a step inside. “Thanks for a fun day, Andrew.”
I reach out for his hand to give it a tight squeeze. He grabs it and pulls me in for a hug instead, and I feel myself sink into him.Despite spending an hour in the lake, he still has a clean,masculine scent to him. His body is warm and firm in all the right places. I could get used to the feeling of his strong arms wrapped around me.
We slowly peel our bodies apart, but his forehead remains pressed to mine. I can feel his warmth, and my heart is beating a thousand miles a minute. I can feel the soft puffs of his breath against my lips, and all I want to do is break the space between us, but he remains super still, and I’m careful to follow his lead.
“When I finally kiss you, it’s going to be amazing. We aren’t just going to kiss on your porch like some teenage cliché. I’m going to have something bigger planned for us.”
His words take the wind right out of me. The combination of his lips this close to mine and his sweet words have made me forget about the most basic thing I need to live. He pulls me in for another squeeze before he finally pulls away.
He steps off my porch, heading back to his cabin. I walk into the house and head straight for my room to grab fresh clothes so I can shower. Dani is sitting on the couch, reading a magazine. Why on earth she isn’t outside basking in the lovely afternoon sun is beyond me.
She peers up at me curiously. “Why are you wet? I thought you were getting groceries with Andrew?”
I run my fingers through my hair. “We did. We went for a spontaneous swim on our way back.”
The look of shock on her face is priceless. “Since when were you one to be spontaneous?”
“Since now,” I state, confidently storming off to my room.
I grab some running shorts and a T-shirt to put on after my shower. I have no one to impress. Andrew won’t be around, and even if he were, he’s seen me in running clothes countless times, and he still adores me.Wow. Andrew feels the same way for me as I do for him. This is incredible!
I can’t wipe the smile off my face as I turn the water on and think about the fact that Andrew Martin toldme how he feels about me today and is taking me out on a date tomorrow night. Rebecca would freak out if I could tell her.
That’s when it hits me. The one person I want to talk about this with right now is Rebecca, and she’s gone. I can’t tell my best friend in the whole world about this exciting news. She spent so much time planning how to get the two of us together, and she doesn’t even get to see it come to fruition.
Andrew and I both said we had cared for one another for a while before we professed our feelings, so what took us so freaking long? I’m not mad about the time Andrew and I missed together. Sure, it would be nice to have him be mine for longer, but I’m content to have found our way to each other now. However, Iamangry at us for not getting our shit together for Rebecca. She wanted to see this happen as much as I wanted it to happen, and we took so damn long hiding our feelings because we were scared. Now, she doesn’t get to be here for any of it.
At this point, I’m sobbing. I’m angry at myself, and I’m hurting for the loss of Rebecca. This should be a happy moment. I should be hugging Rebecca and giving her a play-by-play while she tells me “I told you so” right about now, but I’m not. I can’t.
I get out of the shower and gain some composure while I get dressed and brush out my hair. I open the door, sniffling a little, and find Dani standing outside. She looks like she was just waiting there for me to come out.
“Sorry, did you need to use the bathroom?” I ask, wiping gently at the corners of my eyes, hoping she can’t tell what I was just doing.
Dani opens her arms and wraps me up in them as if I’m a caterpillar and her arms are my cocoon. It feels good to be cared for like this. In college, I’ve been on my own. No one knew what I had been through right before coming to school, and myfamily was two hours away. Dani was even further because she’s going to school out of state.
Rubbing my back, she asks, “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
Just like that, the dam breaks, and I burst into tears all over again, balling in her arms.
CHAPTER 15
Summer 17
“This might be my best idea yet!” Rebecca practically shakes with excitement as we pack suitcases and a tent into Andrew’s truck.
“I’m not convinced a weekend in the woods is your best idea ever,” I grumble.
“Come on, Emma! You love the outdoors. Why are you being such a sourpuss?” Rebecca then dares to add, “You helped me plan this trip for weeks. I thought you’d be excited about this.”
Why does she have to bring that up?As if I need a reminder about how excited I was for this trip before our plans changed.
