I shrug. “It didn’t work out. I wanted it to. It just didn’t.” She nods in understanding. “I dated for a while after the divorce, nothing serious, though.”
“Why’d you move back home?”
“I don’t know if this is home. My family is here, yeah, but I don’t know,” I say honestly. “Seattle used to be home, but you go through shit sometimes, and it changes your perception of whathomereally is. I wanted to be close to Marcy, but I also just wanted to get out of there.”
“I wish I could do that at times, so I get it.” She looks up at the sky. Storm clouds are rolling in overhead, and I know I should get us back if we’re going to miss it, but being here, talking to Shelby, feels right.
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because this is the only place that Brody has a family. It’s also the only place that connects him...us,” she corrects. “To Drew.”
“Now that is a pretty good reason to stay.” I smile. “He’s close to the Malone’s.” It’s more of a statement.
She smiles, glancing at me. “After Drew, they were the only family we had. They’ve been good to the both of us.”
A droplet of rain falls on her forehead, and she shrieks. Another falls on me. “We should get going.” I laugh. “Nature’s way of telling us to get off her turf.”
“And I haven’t even got to your deep, dark secrets.” She giggles.
“Oh, there is plenty of time for that, firefly.”
She bites her lower lip as she helps me gather together the picnic things. I roll up the blankets and pillows, tucking them under a cover. Open trucks are all grand until a storm happens.
We’re just about done when the heavens open up. Shelby shrieks and giggles, and it is the cutest thing. “Open up that truck, slick. I am freezing.”
“I think I like seeing you run around like this.” I smirk but open the truck anyway.
She doesn’t get in; instead, she walks up to me, gets on her tiptoes, kissing my cheek. “I think I like it too.” She smiles.
I look down at her, soaked hair and clothes, a big smile on her face, and I lean down and place a kiss on her lips. The rain makes me shiver all over, but I wonder if it’s the fact that she returns the kiss, wrapping her arms around my neck, leaning her body against me. I tangle my fingers through her wet hair, massaging her scalp over and over again until she tilts her head further back. I sweep her up in my arms, my lips never leaving hers, my tongue never stopping its exploration.
She breaks away, and for a second, I wonder if she regrets it, but she’s smiling, and I know she doesn’t. “I could kiss you forever, but I am freezing my ass off.” She laughs.
I set her down, and I know I have a goofy grin on my face. I open the door for her, and she climbs into the truck. When I’m inside, I reach behind the seat for a towel and a blanket. “Let me turn on the heat.”
She wipes off as best she can then snuggles into the blanket. As we drive away from the waterfall, I feel a sense of loss. What if when we return, everything changes and she forgets this time together?
That changes when she scurries closer, placing her head on my arm.
I smile because I have never felt this content in a long time.
Chapter 15
Shelby
“Something happened between you two,” Desi taunts.
I’m cutting up salad stuff, and she’s stuffing her face with crisps.
“No. Why would you say that?” My head snaps to her
“It’s the way he keeps looking at you and the sexual tension in the air.” She spins her finger around, still chewing. “I know a vibe when I feel one.”
I look around the kitchen. “Fine, we’ve been on a few dates since the last time, that is it.”
“See, I knew it.” Desi stares at me.
“Knew what?” Dylan questions, waddling into the kitchen. It’s a clear Saturday, and we’re having lunch at my place instead of theirs.This is something I have not done since Drew died. This is a small victory.
