“Is it weird for you?” Her gaze dips to my mouth. “’Cause it’s... not for me.”
“Not weird at all.” My thumb slides against the material of her dress. “Feels like the most normal thing in the world.”
She nods. “Fun, even.”
“Why do you think I’ve been doing it for so long?”
Her eyes flash, something wild and reckless dancing in their depths. I’m having so much trouble untangling my own thoughts that there’s no chance of figuring out hers.
She licks her bottom lip. Clenches her fist in the front of my shirt. “Theo.” Those two syllables strum right over my heart. Send something molten rippling through my blood. “What if we—”
Her words are cut off when the bar erupts in a round of applause, as it does every time this song ends. Everything around me surges back into focus. The people. The smell of stale beer and fried food. Someone cheering from a table.
Fable looks away. The moment shattered.
What if we...what? I’m about to ask her to finish the rest of that sentence when she pats my chest and steps out of my arms.
Chapter 20
Fable
Oaks Folks
Millie:Sorry we couldn’t be there for your birthday, Fabes!
Tessa:Me too!
Dad:You all missed a hell of a party.
Dad:There was a beer slip-n-slide.
Dad:And balloon monsters.
Dad:Everyone dressed up as their favorite farm animal.
Mom:We did none of that.
Tessa:Dad, your ideas of a good time are bizarre. Not inviting you to any of my future parties.
Dad:You’ll be missing out.
Dad:Ask your mom about that party in 1982.
Mom:I will not be answering ANY questions about that.
Millie:please
Tessa:pleeeeeeease
“That third margarita might’ve been a mistake,” I announce as Theo guides me up the steps to the A-frame. It seemed like a good idea at the time—a cold drink to cancel out the hot feeling in my belly after that dance with him.
Did it help? No, Your Honor, in fact, it did not. That hot feeling is still eating me alive from the inside out.
Maybe I’m hungry. That must be it—drunk and hungry. Ineed food.
“I’m no expert,” Theo says with a laugh. “But maybe it was also the shots you and Mia did before you danced to ‘It’s Gonna Be Me’?”
“Oh yeahhhh. Iremember that.” I trip up the last step and he steadies me. “Still can’t believe Ethan played *NSYNC.”
