“No,” I murmur. “Usually they’re just simple questions, and many confirm what he already knows. He asked if I still prefer chocolate ice cream over vanilla, and if I still enjoyed reading romance books.”
“Does he know about your chocolate habit?” Whitley asks with a laugh.
“Oh, I’m well-versed in the chocolate habit. I’m the one who started it,” comes from behind us, and I look over my shoulder to find Leo smiling at us. Wearing a thick jacket and jeans, with his hands tucked into his pockets, he looks disarmingly handsome.
“Oh? Is he the cause of the chocolate jar under the register?” Whitley asks.
I nod. “One hundred percent his fault.”
“What prompted it?” Whitley inquires.
Leo looks at me, one eyebrow cocked. God, he looks so undeniably sexy. “I believe it started with a chocolate cake.”
I giggle. “Oh my God, I forgot about that! It was chocolate cake!”
“I find it hard to believe that a cake is what changed El’s life forever,” Whitley says.
I nod. “It seriously did. It was the best cake I’ve ever had. This tiny little bakery in Golden had these individual cakes, and Leo took me there for a date in tenth grade.”
“How’d you get there? I thought you were the same age. Who drove?”
I look at Leo, and he shrugs, so I answer. “Leo’s mom. She had to run an errand, so we tagged along. I wasn’t really allowed to date yet, but since Leo’s mom was going, my parents allowed it. I think it helped that it was with Leo. The Santo family has a reputation for being good people, so my parents naturally assumed Leo would treat me well.”
“Which I did,” Leo interjects. “I didn’t even try to hold your hand. You grabbed mine on the car ride back to Eternity Springs.”
I laugh. “I did. I forgot I did that. Wasn’t I the one who instigated the first kiss as well?”
Leo nods, his smile growing. “You were. Put the moves on me.”
“What a little hussy!” Whitley teases. “I had no idea I was in the company of the town ho.”
“I’d had a crush on him for so long, I guess I couldn’t wait a moment longer,” I explain, feeling a blush heat my cheeks. I know Leo didn’t intend for this conversation to go the way it has, seeing as how he walked into it innocently, but it’s definitely affecting me more than it should. We were so young, without a care in the world. Not knowing how we’d be twenty years later, with scars and trauma locked into our hearts.
“I’d had a crush on her for longer,” Leo boasts.
“How much longer?” Whitley asks.
Leo glances at me. “I first noticed you in eighth grade. When did you notice me?”
My mouth drops open. “Ninth grade.”
He smiles victoriously. “I win.”
I shake my head in confusion. “No. There’s no way. You couldn’t have seen me. I’d just moved here, and I barely knew anyone.”
He shrugs. “I saw you. It was probably your first day. I notice things, you know that. I’d sit in the cafeteria and watch people. You walked in with a paper sack, so unsure of yourself. You got pulled into a table with all the cheerleaders, and you smiled at something someone said. The minute you smiled, I knew I was a goner.”
I’m stunned. I had no idea. We’d never spoken about the first year I lived in Eternity Springs. I’d hated it here, missing Silver Mist Falls so badly. While Leo may have seen me sitting with a group of strangers, I certainly wasn’t participating in the conversation. I barely made it through each day, desperate to get out of this part of my life.
Until Leo. When I finally saw him the following year, our eyes met, and I felt like I’d been zapped with electricity. His dark brown eyes seemed to see directly into my soul, and when I finally approached him, I felt a warmth seep over me. He gave me peace, and I craved it. While I wasn’t technically allowed to date him, as my parents had a strict rule of no dating before the age of sixteen, Leo had my heart well before that.
If I’m being honest, he still does.
“Why didn’t you come up to me?” I blurt out, suddenly angry. “I hated that year. I hated middle school, and the fact that I’d been forced to move. Those snotty cheerleaders were awful. If I’d met you then, it would have given me a sliver of hope. I’d have liked life a little bit more, Leo. I wish you’d come up to me.”
His smile fades, but I see the understanding in his eyes. “I wish I had. You know I’d have done it, just to take away your pain, Ladybug. I thought you were out of my league, and if you hadn’t come up to me the following year, I don’t know if I’d ever have gotten the nerve. I still think you’re out of my league.”
I can’t respond. I’m tongue-tied. He’s a decorated war vet with all kinds of life experiences I couldn’t even dream about. He comes from an amazing family, with tons of nieces and nephews, whereas I have one dead sibling and one live one that I barely speak to. My parents are both dead, and the only “family” I have is my chosen one of Whitley. I’m raising my niece and nephew and can barely make it out of Eternity Springs to eat at a new fast food restaurant. If anything, he’swayout of my league.
