He leaned closer to me. “I know, well, I used to know. I wasn’t sure if you outgrew them.”
“Nope, I still love them,” I said as I popped two in my mouth and chewed slowly. I offered him the bag. “How did you know, though?”
Pete took one and said, “I remembered from when we were kids.”
“How?”
He handed the candy back to me, but I placed the bag on the table instead of eating another piece.
“I can’t believe I’m going to say this out loud. At one point in time, I think I knew everything about you. From your favorite color being purple to how you always doodled when you were nervous or upset.”
I cocked my head to the side.
He ran his fingers across his face. “Yeah, I was a little obsessed. I had the biggest crush on you.”
“You did?” My stomach fluttered. I remembered our text exchange when he wrote “the fact that I” but never completed his sentence.Did he almost tell me this then?
With a slow smile that built, he said, “Yep.”
I swallowed down the lump in my throat.What the hell? I was sick and tired of always playing it safe, especially since it never got me anywhere.
My voice was barely a whisper. “If it makes you feel better, I have the biggest crush on you now.”
He stroked my cheek with the back of his hand. “It does, because god, Waverly, I still want you.”
My heart danced in my chest, but I had to be sure. “What about everything you said before?”
He ran his fingers through his hair. “You are not the only one who is afraid of getting hurt, Waverly. I’m scared, too. I thought it would be easier to push you away and try to bury my feelings. But it didn’t work.”
I glanced at his bare ring finger, which he noticed. He held up his hand. “Yeah, I took off my ring the night of the reunion, when I got home. I regretted blowing you off. I wanted to try to give us a chance. But then I got scared. I tried to push you away, but my heart is way smarter than my head.”
I sniffed.
He reached over and twirled a lock of my hair in his fingers. “Ever since I first pulled you over for speeding, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. I think I’m falling in love with you.”
“You are?” I could barely breathe.
He nodded.
“Why? I’m a boring workaholic who doesn’t remember how to have fun.”
He inched closer to me. “First, I like your serious side. And second, don’t worry about the fun part. People like you, who peaked in high school, don’t realize what happens to nerds like me. We more than make up for the good times we missed when we were young. I promise I will take your mind off work.”
I felt each one of my nerve endings stir. “I’m sure you will. But what about Clara? I thought you werepetrifiedto have me in her life?”
“Yeah, I was. I still am.”
My body stiffened, but then he looked at me tenderly. “I’m afraid of her getting caught under your spell. I don’t want her to get hurt, if things don’t work out. But it’s foolish to live your life preparing for all the worst-case scenarios. The now is all that matters. Clara and my life would be so much better with you in it.”
“Really?” I asked as a tear trickled down my cheek.
He wiped it away. “Yes.”
“So, you don’t still hate me for what I did to you as a kid?”
“Listen, I can bellyache all I want about my childhood, but the truth is, now I’m thankful I experienced what I did. I know it made me a better man. And no matter how angry the other kids made me feel, as a teenager I never was able to hate you because”—he paused—“because I adored you as a teenager. You just never knew I existed.”
I tilted my head and bit my lip. “I’m not buying it. If you adored me, why were you so vindictive when you pulled me over?”
