‘Cole is whatever Cole feels like being on the day.’
He let go of my hand to push his hair out of his face, agloomy look turning down the corners of his mouth. Cole, I suspected, was not his favourite family member.
‘Still, it must have been cool growing up with so many siblings,’ I suggested, looking for a positive. ‘I always wanted a big brother or sister. Must be nice to have someone who gets you, someone who sees the world the same way you do.’
‘I’m not sure any of them see the world the same way I do,’ he replied, his smile back but bittersweet. ‘But I definitely learned a lot from my cousins. Don’t know a thing about sports but you can ask me anything about the Twilight movies. And I was always getting dragged into dance routines and rituals.’
‘Rituals?’
‘Lena and Sara are big on astrology,’ he clarified. ‘You can always count on me to know when Mercury is in retrograde, which is a big deal if you need to buy electronics or sign some kind of contract. Or so they say.’
Soft wefts of clouds covered the blazing sun when I blinked upwards, as though I might see the planet rushing backwards across the sky.
‘I do need a new phone,’ I said. ‘Is it in retrograde now?’
‘No, you’re good. Time to go nuts at the Apple store.’
High on sunshine and ice cream, I reached for his hand and took it in mine. The sizzle of the sun on my skin was nothing compared to the heat that radiated through my body when he squeezed it again, warming the coldest, darkest parts of me, lighting me up from the inside out. I couldn’t speak, I could barely breathe.
And I never, ever wanted to lose this feeling.
Chapter Eleven
‘Stop it! That’s disgusting!’ Wyn yelled.
‘You said you wanted to see it!’ I protested as I popped my eyelids back the right way around. ‘I had to look at your creepy double-jointed elbow, it’s only fair.’
We’d been walking around Savannah for what felt like hours and so far, I’d seen nothing of the city. Wyn’s sightseeing tour involved lots of interesting historical facts and figures but the only fact I had registered was just how much I was starting to like him.
‘It’s gross enough to make me puke pasta through my nose,’ he said, grinning as he took a slurp of his Starbucks.
I also had some minor regrets.
‘I knew I shouldn’t have told you that,’ I groaned. ‘OK, my turn to ask you a question. What’s your favourite book?’
As we strolled up and down the Savannah streets, Wyn had suggested a game, quick-fire questions with immediate answers, no thinking. So far I had found out his favourite colour was blue, his birthday was in May, he loved old movies as much as I did, and his favourite pizza topping was pepperoni. Noneof it was groundbreaking but each crumb of information we shared felt like the key to understanding the universe.
Slowing to a stop, he grabbed hold of the iron railings behind him and swung from side to side. The sleeves of his T-shirt stretched over the tense muscles in his arms and I quickly looked away before he could catch me staring. Again.
‘I don’t think I can choose just one,’ he said. ‘Different days need different books.’
‘Agreed,’ I said, honestly relieved he hadn’t said he didn’t read at all. There was nothing less attractive than someone who didn’t read. ‘How about … city or country? Which is your favourite?’
‘You know I’m a mountain man.’ He puffed out his chest and planted his fists on his hips. ‘Give me a wide-open space any day. Savannah is as close as I want to get to city living, couldn’t stand the thought of all those skyscrapers boxing me in. What about you?’
‘I really like cities.’ I answered according to the rules, without thinking. ‘I always figured I’d go to college somewhere like London or New York but I like the quiet of the countryside too and I love being by the ocean but Dad hated the beach so we hardly ever saw the sea.’ I shook my head and laughed. ‘I guess what I’m trying to say is I don’t know.’
‘You’d love it where I’m from. Asheville is a really cool town and the mountains are real peaceful. Unless my cousins are around anyways.’
Wyn was so grounded. He knew who he was and where he was from, he had so many relatives, he could barely remember all their names. He had a favourite pizza place and local sports teams and the same school friends he’d known all his life. He had all the things I’d always wanted.
‘OK, what’s next? Cats or dogs, which do you prefer?’ I asked, changing the subject before I started fantasizing aboutvisiting the North Carolina mountains with a boy I’d only just met.
‘Dogs, I guess. I love cats but they never like me.’
He swirled the ice in his plastic cup and looked at me intently.
‘What?’ I swiped at my mouth with the back of my hand. ‘Do I have something on my face?’
