On the drive back,the sun hangs low enough to butter the horizon in gold.My old iPod is plugged in, the playlist shuffling through songs from another lifetime.Nora scrolls until she finds The Cure and hits play.“Just Like Heaven”spills through the speakers, and she rolls the window down, wind tugging at her hair.
And fuck me, she’s my favourite view.
The towns we pass blur by us—terracotta rooftops, whitewashed buildings, bursts of bougainvillea spilling over balconies, narrow roads curving along the cliffs.But she’s the thing I keep looking at.The contrast of sunlight on her skin, the careless joy, the way she turns a car ride into something sacred.
“Your birthday’s soon.”I say, glancing over at her.
She nods slowly.“Weird that it’ll be my eighteenth and the first year not celebrating in Eden with…” She trails off.
“Jake?”
She hesitates.“Yeah.”
“Have you spoken to him lately?”
“No.You?”
I grip the wheel tighter.“He doesn’t want anything to do with me after last summer.”
Nora reaches over and rests her hand on mine, where it sits on the gear stick.“He’s your brother, he’ll come around eventually.”
We get to her apartment and I decide to walk her up because I'm not ready to say goodbye, not ready to go back to my life without her in it.
"Well," she says when we reach her door, "thank you for the books and for today."
"You're welcome."
"I guess this is goodby?—"
"It's never goodbye with us, Leni," I interrupt, using the nickname I haven't said out loud since being here.
"Well, I guess I'll see you again soon."
She turns toward the door, and panic rises in my chest.
No, this can't be it.
“Truth or dare?”I ask.She turns and I start to close the distance between us.
She smiles and my heart picks up speed anticipating her answer.
“Dare.”
“Stay.”
The words are out before I can stop them, hanging in the air between us like a challenge.
"What?"
"I'm heading back to Málaga tomorrow morning.Come with me."
She stares at me like I've lost my mind.
You know what, maybe I have.
"You want me to come to Málaga?With you?"
"Yeah, Len.I do."
