*****
I flop onto myback and then sit up again immediately with a groan. I am way toofull of Chinese food and wine to lie down right now, even with thesea of pillows and blankets around me.
Evie and I decidedto build a blanket fort while we waited for our food to bedelivered. She said it had been on her mind since Wesley mentionedit recently, and our impromptu girls’ night seemed like the perfectchance. It’s pretty rudimentary and I’m afraid it might collapse atany moment, but we’ve both enjoyed the blast from thepast.
Someone buzzed upto the apartment a minute ago and Evie went to answer it. I checkmy phone while I wait for her to return. Nothing new, but I open mytext chain with Leland anyway, just to reread our last exchange. Hemessaged an hour or so ago to ask if I’d had dinner yet. I told himEvie and I were ordering in and suggested he call Wesley since mybrother was unexpectedly free for the evening.
“Wellthis is a nice surprise,” Evie says from the direction of the frontdoor. “Come on in.”
“We’renot staying, we just dropped by to bring you and Stella somedessert,” Wesley says.
We? I pop my head past the blanketsto see Wesley and Leland standing inside the front door. Leland issurveying the fort, and he grins when he sees me.
“We’llbe right back,” Evie calls, dragging Wesley down the hall towardher bedroom.
Leland and I watchthem go, then exchange an amused look. “Did I hear something aboutdessert?” I ask.
Leland holds uptwo takeout containers. “Permission to join you in yourfort?”
“Granted.” I slip back inside and crawl to the far end to makeroom for him. I can hear him removing his coat and shoes and thenwalking across the room. He drops to his knees in the doorway ofthe fort and hands me the containers so he can crawlinside.
“Wow,”he says as he settles beside me. “I haven’t been inside a blanketfort in…thirty years?”
“I’msure most normal adults can say the same.”
In the smallspace, the sound of his chuckle wraps around me like a warm quilt.“Normal is highly overrated.” He inclines his chin toward thecontainers in my hand, so I open one. The scent of cinnamonimmediately permeates the air, making my mouth water.
“Churros,” he says. “Wes suggested tacos when I invited him outfor dinner. Is it weird I felt like I was cheating on you sincetacos have kind of become one of our things?”
Laughter burstsout of me. “So you decided to make up for it by bringing medessert?”
Leland lifts oneshoulder, his smile growing into a full-blown grin. “Pretty much. Iwasn’t sure if you’d prefer chocolate or caramel sauce, so I gotboth.”
“You’rethe best fake boyfriend ever, Leland Levesque.” His smile waversfor the briefest of moments before returning to its previousbrightness when I ask, “Want one?”
“Nah,we got them for you.”
“Wantone?” I ask again, this time waving my handover the container to waft the scent of cinnamony goodness in hisdirection.
He laughs. “Okay,but just one.” We savor the first few bites in silence before hesays, “Are you sure about the banquet? I’d completely understand ifyou wanted to back out.”
“It’sfine. It might actually be good for me to go back and see the placeagain. Like facing your demons to take their power away, youknow?”
“Right,” Leland says slowly. “And you’ve said yourself that notall your memories of high school are bad. It was mostly just thatawful year.”
“Right,” I echo. “And even then, it wasn’tallawful.”
Leland’s eyesglimmer with understanding. The dark depths of his irises rival thechocolate sauce in the container I’m holding. I never understoodthe concept of getting lost in someone’s eyes before now, but itbecomes clear as Leland and I gaze at each other and I realize Icould do this all night.
His gaze dips tomy lips. He inches toward me and I’m vaguely aware of swayingcloser to him. I’m also vaguely aware of a noise from outside and,as my senses return, I realize it’s Evie and Wesley coming down thehall.
“HeyLee, you ready to go?” Wesley calls.
Leland sighs andleans toward the opening of the fort. “Yeah, coming. Onesec.”
Disappointmentcourses through me, but I force it aside. It’s a good thing we wereinterrupted before something happened that would blur the lines ofour fake relationship even more. And yet, Leland makes no move toexit the fort. I sit frozen as he leans in, his breath tickling myface for a second before he presses his lips to mine.
I’m too stunned tomove other than to press my lips a little more firmly to his. Hetastes like cinnamon and caramel, which is now officially my newfavorite flavor combination.
