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Cain pinched my arm in return. He winked at me. “I’ll take you to a Red Sox game someday. I promise, Sophie Bigelow.”
My heart swelled. I suddenly felt like I wanted to cry because I wanted the movie ending. I wanted more with Cain. A future.
I blinked hard so he wouldn’t see.
Cain walked me to the hotel my parents were at. They were checking out the ballroom for the wedding and were eventually going to notice the hour I had said I would be gone had stretched into two.
The water looked beautiful and the air was warm, clean. There were lots of tourists strolling through the town and they didn’t pay any attention to us. Cain was wearing a black T-shirt with his cross necklace dangling prominently. He had on dark jeans that made me think far too much about what he looked like naked.
“I love this song,” he said.
There was music piped through the speakers of a restaurant, wafting down the sidewalk. It was a…hair-band ballad? Maybe? It was nothing I had ever heard in my entire life. “I don’t know it,” I said.
He made a sound in the back of his throat. “What? First baseball, now only the greatest band that ever existed?”
“I’ve led a sheltered life apparently.”
Cain stopped walking. “Come here.”
“What?” I looked at him, bewildered. He had his arms held out to me. “What are you doing?”
“Let’s dance.”
He didn’t appear drunk but that sounded a little crazy. “We’re on the sidewalk.”
“Would you prefer the grass?”
My heart was racing and I was confused, but excited. This didn’t happen to me. Men didn’t want to dance in the middle of town with me. I tentatively reached out my hand to him. None of this was logical, but God, it was romantic. And I was just as easy to convince as any other girl.
He took me in his arms and began to dance with me with a grace that stunned me. He was light on his feet, maybe from all that time on the open water. He had great balance. Cain looked down at me, a slight smile on his lips as he sang the words to me. Words about love. Part of me wanted to close my eyes and breathe in, try to capture this moment and hold it to me forever. But if I closed my eyes I wouldn’t be able to see his.
And those eyes…God, they drilled into me. I swallowed hard as he held me in those strong, callused hands, his thighs brushing against me.
I was falling in love with Cain.
He bent down and kissed the corner of my mouth. I felt everything I had told myself I wouldn’t. A deep longing, a swelling of happiness, an ache for him.
The song ended.
He twirled me in a full circle and cupped my cheeks with his hands. I stared up at him, terrified. There was no answer to this. He was right. There were no answers. “I have to go,” I whispered.
To my surprise, he easily let me go. “Have a good night, my pretty little genius. Text me later when you’re alone and naked.”
But I shook my head. “I can’t do this, Cain,” I blurted out.
His head tilted and the smile fell off his face. “What do you mean?”
“I can’t do this. I…I’m getting too attached to you. I promised myself and you I wouldn’t do that, but I can’t stop it.” I pressed my hands on my cheeks. “I can’t see you anymore or I’m going to get hurt.” I knew it would have been much cooler to just ghost him or go back to Cambridge and then cut off any communication, but that’s not me. I’m not cool. I’m just honest and awkward.
I thought he would be angry. But he just shook his head. “I would never hurt you on purpose.”
“I know that.” I did. Or I thought I did. But I meant that he would hurt me unintentionally when I wanted something he couldn’t give me.
And I was positive he knew that.
“Go to your fancy dinner shit,” he said. “And text me later.”
It sounded demanding. Even a little sexual. I already knew I would. Because, for the smart girl, I was being a total idiot.
