Would my cheeks ever not be red again? “Well, I have no idea.”
“No?” He picked up a towel, rubbing it through his hair and down his body. Goodlord. “None?”
I swallowed. I didn’t need exercise, because I wasn’t going to have a body after I spontaneously combusted from sheer lust. “None.”
“Okay, then.” He slung the towel around his shoulders and sat down cross-legged. “This is my favorite thing to do.”
“Go out on the water?”
He nodded, leaning back on his hands. “I’m not really religious, but I think—this is what I find the most moving. What I want to save. When I was a kid and I came to Nantucket, I loved it so much, because it was just me and the stars and the sea and I didn’t have to be hemmed in by buildings and I could be totally, completely alone. Even in Central Park, you’re never really alone. It’s different now, there’s the weight of the family and what I’m supposed to do and I’m not oblivious anymore, there’s the whole history of Nantucket and the British taking it from the Wampanoag, and I can’t pretend it’s all nice, but thenature...” He shook his head, as though robbed for words.
“You do seem more relaxed.”
He shot me a half smile. “Weirdly, I find you relaxing.”
I grinned back at him. “Why is that weird? I’mveryrelaxing.”
“No.” He shook his head with, perhaps, an insulting amount ofcertainty. “You shouldn’t be. You’re hyper and nosy and aggravating. But. You’re real. I never have to pretend anything with you.”
“I wouldn’t want you to,” I said, not sure whether to be insulted or complimented. “Imightwant something a little nicer than ‘aggravating’ though.”
“Do you?” His gaze caught mine. When I flushed, he smiled to himself, and looked up at the sky. “When should we go to Boston?”
“What?”
“To listen to the recordings.”
“We?”
He shrugged. “You’re seventeen, right? I’m eighteen. You need to be eighteen for most hotels or Airbnbs.”
Boston.
An overnight.
Noah.
“You can’t be serious.” Traveling with a boy—alone with a boy—seemed incredibly intimate. And adult. I hadn’t even traveled alone with my friends anywhere. Traveling withNoah...
“Why not?”
“Wouldn’t your parents be fazed? By us traveling together?”
“It’s not the kind of thing they usually have a say in.”
“How can they not have a say?”
“You’ve noticed their lack of parenting skills, right?”
“I sort of thought your mom might have opinions...”
“Mom’s busy keeping Shira in check. Besides, they decided a few years ago I’m old enough to make my own decisions.” He cocked his head. “Unless you don’t want me to come with you?”
I swallowed a hysterical laugh. “I want you to come with me.”
I couldn’t believe I’dsaidthat. I couldn’t believe any of this. An army of butterflies had taken up residence in my stomach.
“Okay, then, it’s settled. When?”
