I snort a laugh. We gravitate to the center of the sand and choose a spot with a view of the ocean, moss-covered rocks towering behind us. It feels like we’ve been dropped into the soft cradle of the earth’s hands. A secret place, just for us.
“This is unbelievable.It looks like the magical cave from that Australian mermaid show,”[H2O!!]I say, settling next to him. The sun has already set beneath the horizon.Faint silver streaksare cast over the moonlit water in its stead.
“I call it ‘secret beach.’?” His eyes twinkle with the childlikejoy at having shared the nickname with me. It’shorrendously cute.[I love when an aggressive word is next to a sweet one.]
“How long have you wanted to take me on a date?” I ask. “Or like… when did this stop being platonic for you?” I point between us.
He picks up sand and lets it fall through the cracks between his fingers. A slight smile tugs at the side of his mouth.
“Nowthatis a loaded question.” He looks over at me,arms wrapped around my knees like his.[He mirrors her body language.]
“Why is it loaded?” I poke, hoping against all hope that his crush has existed for even afractionas long as mine has.
“I think,” he starts, looking out at the waves. “It was less of a single moment, rather a string of repeated instances that snowballed until it was this huge thing that smacked me in the side of the head. And I knew I couldn’t resist it anymore.”!
I’ve never felt blood pump through my veins so viscerally.
“Wow,” I say, becoming monosyllabic. “Yeah, that’s…” I nod my head into oblivion.
Declan peeks at me from the corner of his eye and then breaks, descending into abrupt laughter. The warm rasp of it is boyish in a way that makes my cheeks heat.
I am so far gone, I think helplessly.[YEAH. YA THINK?]
“Okay, well!” he protests, still laughing. “I can’t be the only one who admits something. What was the moment for you?”
Oh gosh. I contemplate diminishing the truthful answer. It would be easy to.I’ve been lying to myself for so long about my feelings for him that it is kind of hazy[Blair is very talented at lying to herself. :)], but I decide starting our relationship with half-truths would be a bad idea and risk it.
“I think the real answer might freak you out, but for the longest time, I didn’t believe you’d ever see me in that way, and I also didn’t want to risk ruining the friendship.” I sneaka glance at him to weigh his reaction. It’s unbearably kind. His eyes squint in concentration, andhis body language is perfectly at ease, unhurried.[when someone doesn’t make you feel rushed or judged while talking > > >]
“Mm-hmm. I didn’t want to ruin it either,” he says. “But come on, that wasn’t an answer. You’re acting like a politician right now.”
“Well, if you want me to becompletely honestwith you—”
“Which I do.”[Still a foreign concept for Blair to say how she FEELS!]
“Then… I honestly can’t remember a time when I wasn’t a little bit obsessed with you.”
The sound of a wave breaking is theonly thingthatdaresmake noise in the wake of my confession, and I think I might fall forever through the empty space, until finally, Declan breaks into a grin and catches me.
“You’re joking,” he teases.
“I’m not.”
“No, be serious with me right now. You’re telling me that when I was five years old and had thick black-framed glasses attached to me via necklace and my two front teeth weren’t close enough to be considered neighbors, you were ‘a little bit obsessed’ with me?” he challenges, eyebrows raised.
“Yes! Dead serious!”
“And this is our first date, why?” he shouts at the sky.
“Because! You know why!” I say instead of the actual answer.
“Because…?” he challenges again with a teasing smile, refusing to let it go.
“Because so many girls threw themselves at you and they were all so impossibly pretty, and you still didn’t want them. So, I took it as evidence that if you didn’t want them, you definitely didn’t want me.Actually, no. You know what it was?”[She finally catches Declan saying how she feels here.]I say, more to myself than him. “I thought you enjoyed my friendship because it was a nice escape from all the unwantedattention you got. So, I wasn’t going to be the idiot who added to your list of people you needed to avoid.”I laugh to ease the[I definitely have this in common with Blair!]honesty of my admission.[I definitely have this in common with Blair!]
I look down, focusing on drawing circles in the sand.
Without speaking, he takes my chin in his hand and turns my face to him.
