He grabs my wrist.
“Guys!” Dani yells.
I yank my arm from his grasp. “I can’t be on a team with him,” I say to her, pushing past Asher.
“Well, if I’m not on your team, then whose head will you serve the ball at?” Asher snarks.
“I said it was an accident.”
“Seemed intentional to me. You know, when something happens multiple times, it’s no longer an accident.” He inclines his head, not talking about the serve.
“Ugh, screw this,” Annica says. “I’m going back to the pool.”
“And I need a drink,” I say, following her inside.
Everyone gathers in the living room waiting for the Ubers to pick us up. I can tell Asher is watching me from the corner of my eye but I don’t acknowledge it. When the cars pull up, everyone goes to leave, and Wesley grabs my hand.
“You guys have fun,” he calls out to the group.
Asher turns around. “What do you mean? Are you not coming?” He looks between Wes and me. I just stare at Wes, confused.
“No, Sloane and I have other plans,” Wes says, eyeing me. I glance back at Asher, who is still standing there, like he might say that if we aren’t going then neither is he. But he turns around toleave with the group. “Come with me.” Wes takes my hand and leads me out to the backyard, down the beach path, and out to a spread of blankets on the beach.
“What is all this?” I ask when we get closer, seeing rose petals sprinkled around the blankets, two charcuterie boards, a pizza, and a bottle of white wine on ice.
“I wanted to surprise you.”
“You did all of this yourself?” I sit on the blanket, wiping the sand from my feet before crawling farther in, plucking a piece of prosciutto from the board.
“Well, yes and no.” Wes joins me, grabbing the bottle from the bucket and pouring us each a glass. “Dani helped me set it up.” He hands me a glass and I take a sip.
“This is amazing, thank you,” I say. “No one has ever set up a beach picnic for me. Or any picnic.”
“Oh, I’m just trying to stay on your good side,” he teases. “I wouldn’t want to end up in that journal of yours.”
I take a breath and let it out with a nervous laugh. “Right, wouldn’t want that.” I bring my wineglass back to my mouth for a big gulp, or two.
We talk and eat until the sky turns vibrant with the colors of the sunset.
“So I just thought,” Wes starts, “we’ve been taking things slow lately, and I love slow, really I do. Some of my favorite things move slow, like... turtles and my grandpa—”
“Turtles and your grandpa?” I laugh.
“What I’m trying to say is, um, would you be my girlfriend?”
His girlfriend. This is what I’ve always wanted. So why do I have to remind myself of that before I answer? “Yes.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Wes leans in to kiss me, and I kiss him back. His hands are light on my skin as his thumb brushes against my jaw and over my collarbone. Our mouths press together harder, the kisses deeper as his tongue slips into my mouth. He moves from my mouth, down my neck, to my collarbone and shoulders, slipping the straps of the dress down past my shoulders. I lean back on my elbows, tilting my head back as he explores. Wes positions himself over me and I lie down. His mouth is back on mine, and his hand starts to move up my thigh, under my dress. He traces his fingers over the thin line of my underwear.
We hear a loud splash in the pool up at the house, causing him to pause.
“I guess they’re back,” Wes says, sitting up. “We’ll finish this later.” He kisses my forehead and helps me up. I put the dress straps back over my shoulders. We clean up the picnic, carrying everything back up to the house.
“How was it?” Dani smirks from the pool, still in her dress she wore to dinner, with Charlie, who is also fully clothed.
