Finally, she sits up. She scoots toward me, matching my posture, touching her toes to mine. I’m so frustrated by how this night has panned out, I kind of want to put distance between us. But that seems mean-spirited.
“It’s okay,” Piper says, more solemn now.
“Is it? What if he saw us?”
“I don’t think he did.”
“He knew we were on the property, sosomeoneobviously saw us. Someone called security. What if your boss figures out the trespasser was you? What’re you gonna do then?”
“That won’t happen.”
But she doesn’t sound so confident anymore.
“It could. I shouldn’t have let you—” I break off. I’m not going to slap her with all the blame. It’s not like she dragged me through that fence.
“You shouldn’t have let me what?” she prods.
“Nothing.”
I move my feet away from hers.
Her face falls.
I don’t know why I’m being so shitty to her. It’smyselfI’m angry with. I could’ve said no. Could’ve refused to trespass, but instead I let a girl sway me because I like her. Because I want her to like me.
I know right from wrong, but I still fucking folded.
“I’m sorry,” she says, soft and rueful. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have asked you to come. I just—I thought it would be fine. Ithasbeen fine every other time I’ve done it.” Her gaze drops to the sand. “Henry, if we’d gotten caught… God. I’ve been in trouble before—I can deal. But if I’d caused problems for you, I never would’ve forgiven myself.”
She looks wrecked.
She looks like she might cry.
“Hey.” I reach over to touch her knee. Her eyes find mine, and yeah, they’re bright with tears. Shit—when we left the Towers a few hours ago, I never would’ve guessed we’d end up having what feels too much like fight. “It wasn’t all bad,” I tell her. “I liked watching the rays with you. I liked seeing your parents’memorial. I want to learn more about them.”
“What,now?”
Laughter zaps what’s left of the tension from my system. “Maybe not right now,” I say, leaning back on my hands, stretching out my legs. “Like, tomorrow, or the day after that.”
“You want to see me again after what I just put you through?”
She sounds exceptionally anxious, like the suspense might do her in. It’s a lot like how I felt behind that bathroom partition, like another second of uncertainty would liquefy my bones. I shrug, letting her sweat it out for a second. And then: “Yeah, I want to see you again. I’m kind of into you. I thought you knew.”
She lets a breath disappear into the breeze. “I’m kind of into you too.”
The distance between us makes me feel like a buoy bobbing alone in the gulf.
I don’t like it.
“Piper,” I say with longing that’s hit suddenly and insistently. “Come here.”
She rises to her knees and edges toward me, gaze locked on mine until—Jesus,finally—she’s hovering over my shins, my knees, my thighs. As much as I want to put my hands on her, this weirdly masochistic part of me likes the challenge of waiting to see what she’ll do without influence. She leans close, pressing her chest to mine, setting her cool palms against my hot neck. She kisses me once, softly, barely, leaving traces of vanilla on my mouth.
I exhale, feeling like a grenade without a pin.
Her face catches the moonlight. She’s pleased with herself, with the power she must’ve just now realized she has.
I grapple for composure, but anticipation’s coursing through me, a second surge of adrenaline. I focus on her, dragging my hands over her ankles, her calves, her thighs, trapping grains of sand between her soft skin and mine, until I find the tattered hems of her cutoffs. I rub the denim between my fingers, wondering how far she wants this to go.
