Of course my mind goes straight to Wes, when he asked me this same thing on Nonna’s front steps.
“Olivia’s was fun. So was Sara’s.”
“Oh yeah, Underground Christmas. I need pics.”
“All you have to do is scroll through my feed. It’s full of them.”
She smiles, her eyes still closed.
“I’m dying to tell you something, but you have to promise me it stays between us. Like serious promise,” I whisper.
Her eyes open. “Tell me.”
“Promise you won’t tell.”
“I won’t. You know you can tell me anything.”
I take a deep breath and say, “Okay. I think Wes almost kissed me the other night and I’m bummed it didn’t happen.” And then I bury my face in her shoulder.
All I hear for a moment is the rise and fall of Margot’s breath. I peek up at her. “So? What do you think?”
She sighs and leans her cheek against my forehead. “I love the idea of this, but I’m worried about you. He’s one of your oldest friends. It’s super hard to go back to that if things don’t work out. Just be smart about it, okay?”
I pull away and look at her. I should have known she’d say this. Her senior year, she started dating one of her close guy friends. It only lasted a couple of weeks, and they weren’t able to go back to normal after their breakup.
“This isn’t like you and Ryan,” I say.
She shakes her head. “I’m not saying that. And you probably shouldn’t be listening to me. My hormones are all over the place. I cried when Uncle Sal sent me a text that said ‘good luck’ with the thumbs-up emoji. If you like Wes and Wes likes you—go for it!”
But that’s the thing. I don’t know how I feel about Wes, and certainly don’t know how Wes feels about me. I’m stressing over something that I think almost happened. I blame Nonna for getting my brain all twisted up. Maybe it would have been better to spend this week crying it out rather than getting all tangled up with all of these boys.
We lie in silence, and I’m pretty sure Margot has fallen back asleep. Eventually, I kiss her on the forehead and slip out of the bed.
“Where are you going?” she mumbles.
“I have to get back.”
“You’re not driving back this late, are you?” She pries her eyes open.
“Olivia, Charlie, and Wes are in the car. We’re napping and taking turns driving.”
“Text me when you make it home,” she says.
I nod and point to the floor. “There’s a bag here with a couple of gifts from Olivia and me. Don’t tell Mom where they came from.”
“I’ll play dumb. Be safe. I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
I’m tempted to take one more peek at Anna before I leave, but the clock on the wall shows we’re already a little behind schedule.
My car is exactly where it was when they pulled away, and Wes is in the driver’s seat. I get in the backseat and glance up at the rearview mirror.
“Good visit?” he asks.
“Perfect,” I answer.
Charlie hands me a white plastic bag. “Food,” he says. It looks like he’s still half-asleep, and Olivia is already sacked out in the seat next to me.
