“Lakeland,” she warned, eyes flaring.
“I was worried you might drown there in your own drool, but your sisters assured me that you have a long,longhistory of…”
“Sloppy comas?” she interrupted.
He nodded. “Yup.” He let theppop.
When she went to cover her face, Lake grabbed her hands, pulling them down gently. “You’re beautiful, Georgia.”
She froze, staring at the gorgeous mouth that could tease and infuriate and then invigorate, so easily.
Georgia blurted, “Thank you… for the store and for… taking care of me. I don’t know…”
Lake interrupted her as if he couldn’t hold it in any longer, “Go out with me Friday night? To the Best in Snow Show… I mean, will you be my date?” There was eager innocence in his eyes.
She bit her lip, hiding her smile. “Yes.”
Lake leaned in and whispered against her ear, “Can’t wait. Get some rest, okay?" Then before he backed away, Lake pressed his lips against Georgia’s cheek, kissing her quickly as if second nature. Like it wasn’t insane for him to kiss her skin with mind-blowingly soft care.
“I’ll see ya then, Peaches.” He left the kitchen without another word, leaving Georgia stupefied in the hallway and listening to cheers erupt from the other side of the swinging door.
It didn’t take long for Georgia’s sisters to find her. They’d called in reinforcements in the form of Blaire and Sadie, dragging her up the stairs and all but throwing her on the couch before demanding details.
“You’ve had a week. It's time!” Blaire said as soon as Georgia was given a second to catch her breath.
“Yeah, a whole week. It’s not like I had the plague or anything," Georgia argued.
“Good, we’re in agreement,” her best friend quipped back then clapped her hands at Georgia. “Now, get to it.”
“Yeah,” Ginny added, “stop holding out on us. You were alone with Lakeland Lovett for days. Give us the good stuff.”
Caroline sat down next to Georgia. “Give her a minute, y’all.” She tucked a blanket over Georgia’s lap, seeming to wait a reasonable amount of time, then leaned in. “Okay, like Ginny said, give us the good stuff.”
The girls burst into laughter, and Georgia had a hard time holding back her own.
"Okay, okay, y'all," she said, settling them down like children. "He took care of me all week, cleaned up my used tissues, gave me meds every four hours, and didn't run away screamin' for any of it."
"Wait," Caroline asked, "why is your apartment so tidy?"
Georgia balked, "Ohh, yeah. Lake sort of cleaned my place."
"Marry him," Sadie declared. "Put a ring on it immediately. Lock him down."
Ginny and Caroline nodded in baffled agreement, and Blaire said, "So, a six-foot-two, dream man has cleaned your place and waited on you hand and foot while you've snotted your life away for the past week. He called all your friends and family to help decorate the coffee shop for an event we all know you're insanely competitive about, and you have nothing else to say?"
Georgia added quickly, "Fine. He kissed my cheek and then hesortofaskedmeonadate."
When she made to stand, Ginny pushed her down again. "What was that last part?"
Georgia sighed and looked to the sky, "Lake asked me on a date, okay? No big deal."
It was a big deal. A very big deal. Over the past few weeks of slowly getting to know Lake and sorting him through the filter of the Lake she'd held a flame for in high school, Georgia felt as though her mind and heart were on overdrive, working against each other.
The room was quiet.Were they shocked? Had she broken them with such news?
Georgia patted her knees and hopped off the couch—the couch she'd stayed up all night talking to Lake on. She opened the refrigerator as if she'd shopped for anything in the past week and was surprised to find it full. Fruits and veggies, apple sauce, cheese sticks, milk, and eggs. Lake had shopped for her.
Her heart pattered. They'd talked so much but still had yet to broach the Winter Formal and how he'd all but broken her heart so many years before. How he'd left without a word, and she hadn't seen or heard from him in six years.
