She covers her face. “Please stop. You’re making thissomuch worse.”
I grab the back of my neck, thinking. “If it’s about you and Mia dragging your dad out on the dance floor, I think he’s—”
“It’s the kiss, okay?” she whisper-yells, hands stretched wide in the air between us. “The almost-kiss. Whatever it was.” I’m stunned speechless. Ican’t even find a response before she continues. “It’s all the flirting and dancing and looking at me with thatlookyou do sometimes... my drunk brain was confused. Hence why I flung myself at you. And I’m sorry, okay? Sorry I was so messy last night. Sorry I tried to kiss you.”
I shake my head. Words finally come back. “What? Why would you besorry?”
Her feet shift. “The wires got crossed somewhere, but it’s fine. Ineed to brush it off and move on. Obviously, you’re allowed to not want to kiss me—”
“Notwantto?” I drag a hand through my hair. “What do you mean?” And then itfinallymakes sense. “You don’t remember, do you?”
She goes still. “Remember what?”
My throat feels tight as we stare at each other. Rain pelts the window over the Jacuzzi tub, and in the dreary, dim bathroom, my mind whirls me right back to that almost-kiss. Her arms around my neck. A hum against my ear. Hazel eyes in the moonlight. How could she not remember that? It felt like the most destabilizing moment in my life—admitting to thewantcoursing through my veins.
She searches my face, a hint of uncertainty creeping in, but then Mia’s voice ricochets into the space between us.
“Fable? Theo?” She rounds the corner to find us in the middleof the bathroom. Her dark eyes narrow, sensing something’s off. “What’s going—”
“So, you love the bathroom, huh?” Cathy says, rejoining us. “I knew you’d be a fan of that tile work,” she carries on, giving her Realtor spiel at full volume.
I hold Fable’s gaze for a moment, willing her to remember last night. Remember what I said. Remember how it felt to be in that moment. Confirm it really existed and wasn’t a dream.
But she looks away. Mia watches me carefully as Fable hooks their arms together and steers her out of the bathroom.
“Oh, moving on then?” Cathy asks excitedly. “Let’s go see the dining room.”
I trail after them in a daze. We tour the dining room, where Cathy points out we could fit a table big enough for both our families, the laundry room, which is large enough to hold a party in, and the garage, where Mia teases that I can keep an extra bed for when Fable kicks me out of the house.
A sassyhmmcomes from Fable. “Not a bad idea.”
I smirk, enjoying the way that seems to piss her off more. “As long as Layla and Knocks get to sleep with me.”
“Uh, no,” she snaps. “They’d rather sleep with me.”
“Maybe yourmemoryis a little fuzzy,” I say pointedly, “but Knocks slept on top of my head last night. He loves me.”
Her eyes narrow. “When I woke up, he was cuddlingme. My memory is fine, thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome.”
“You’renotwelcome.”
I bite the inside of my cheek. “Good one.”
Cathy gives an awkward laugh beside us. “Maybe we should move on to the—”
“Wearemoving on,” Fable interjects, crossing her arms as she follows Cathy back into the house. In the doorway, Fable pausesand turns to whisper, “We’re forgetting it happened. Not bringing it up anymore. Got it?”
“But I think we have very different interpretations of how it went. One of us was completely sober, sweetheart.”
Her pointer finger presses into the center of my chest. “Don’t yousweetheartme.”
Behind me, a snort bursts from Mia. “Are we still talking about Knocks, or...?”
Tension soaks the garage. Fable’s glaring at me. I’m grinning at her. Everything is right with the universe, and I have the most intense urge to kiss that glower right off her pretty face.
“See. Stop looking at me likethat,” Fable says sharply, pointing at my face before spinning on her heel to follow Cathy.
