I don’t even have to be right in front of him to see the grin spread across his face and feel the peace he is radiating.
“What kind of ice cream is it?” I call out to him.
He cracks open the top and sticks a spoon in, scooping a biteinto his mouth before answering, “Oh, just a tub of ooey-gooey fudge brownie.”
Rebecca and I immediately start paddling our floaties toward the dock. We are both huge chocolate fans.
When I hit the dock, I toss my floaty aside and take off at a sprint toward Andrew. I snag the tub right out of his hands and begin grasping for a spoon, but he pulls it away and holds it above his head before I can get to it.
“Andrew, you can’t tease me like that!” I reprimand.
The smirk that crosses his face makes me want to kiss him right then and there. His blue eyes are sparkling with mischief, and his dimples are so prominent. I have to internally scold myself for looking at him like that when I don’t know if he’s a single man yet.
He lowers his hand with the spoon. “I’ll give you the spoon if you will set the tub down forallof us to eat,” he compromises, amusement coating his voice.
“Deal.” I extend the tub out as he hands me a spoon.
Rebecca comes up from behind me. “What did you do that made you feel the need to get us ice cream?”
He scowls at her. “I didn’t do anything. I just wanted ice cream.”
Rebecca scoffs. “You and I both know you aren’t that big of a chocolate person.”
“There weren’t many options at the store.”
Rebecca takes a heaping spoonful from the tub. “I’ll accept that answer for now, but I still have to ask what happened that made you take Angelina home early.”
Andrew’s shoulders sag a little. “We broke up.”
“I knew it!” Rebecca exclaims. She turns to me. “You owe me twenty bucks, missy!”
My eyes grow as big as softballs. Before I can say anything, Andrew clears his throat, reminding us he’s still standing there, fresh offof a breakup.
“I’m sorry you guys broke up,” I say softly.
“Oh yeah, I’m sorry it didn’t work out, Andy,” Rebecca teases. “Maybe next time.” She gives me a sly smile.
My cheeks immediately flush, and I have to pray Andrew didn’t notice that. I give her a wide-eyed, raised eyebrow look to remind her not to be so obvious.
I go to scoop another bite of ice cream and bump Andrew’s hand as he reaches in for a bite too. The small contact makes my heart flutter, and I let it.
“Can I ask what happened?” I inquire carefully.
Andrew digs into the ice cream, returning his spoon to his mouth with only a big brownie chunk. I can tell he’s avoiding eye contact.Come on, Andrew.
Once he swallows, he begins to answer. “I guess I finally realized she wasn’t what I wanted, and I didn’t want to drag things out any longer than I needed to.” Rebecca made a point of pinning me with a look as if to sayI told you so. Andrew takes another bite, dipping his head down. Then he peers up at me through those beautiful brunette eyelashes and states, “I don’t just want someone convenient.”
His look is too much. I have to break the eye contact, so I quickly look down at the ice cream tub and peel a layer of chocolate off the top. “Thanks for the ice cream. This is hitting the spot.”
A smile stretches across his face. “I knew it would.”
Rebecca looks between the two of us, and I immediately recognize what she is thinking. She feels the tension between Andrew and I too. It’s not a bad tension. Rather, it’s this longing need to say what we are feeling right now and to touch and hold each other. But we won’t do any of that with Rebecca sitting here.
With a large spoonful of ice cream, Rebecca stands up. “The only thing that could make this moment better would be eatingmy ice cream from my raft on the lake.” Then she’s gone, and it’s just Andrew and me.
We take turns spooning ice cream quietly. Finally, I break the silence. “I am sorry about you and Angelina. I’m sorry about last night too. I’m never having alcohol again.” I laugh with embarrassment. “I guess I do and say some pretty crazy things when I’m drunk. I’m embarrassed now.”
He places his palm on my knee. “You never have to be embarrassed with me, Em. I hope you know that.”
