“Why didn’t you correct him?” I searched his eyes.Please put me out of my misery and say something direct about wanting me—about wanting what Max had inferred to be true.
The look of hurt that flashed across his face stung me like a wasp.
“I’m sorry.” His brows furrowed and his face went from open to closed in an instant. He finished his drink in one gulp.
“I’m going to go grab another one.” He tapped the side of his glass. “I’ll find you later.” He turned and strode back to the tent, leaving me standing on the lawn alone. Stunned.
When my body unfroze, I turned around. Relieved to spot Mimi’s white bob at one of the tables on the other side of the lawn, I beelined in that direction. The conversation between Mimi and her friends was nothing more than background noise as I stared into my wine glass, puzzled and distracted. After a while, I excused myself and walked toward the bar near the dance floor.
My head was on a swivel, looking for Luke, trying to figure out what it meant that he’d looked hurt. I questioned whether it was hurt after all. Maybe I made him uncomfortable? Was I too direct?
Our flirtation was a spinning top—it had to fall down eventually. I’d assumed for a while that when it did, we’d fall into place,together.
Not fall apart.
Francesca found me wandering. “I think I saw him slip out the other side of the house, to the garden. He probably needed a break from all the schmoozing.”
I nodded.I should give him a minute to himself, my brain said. But my feet didn’t listen.
I made out his figure in the shadows as I descended the steps. The lush garden was dark, the only light coming from the streetlights a hundred yards away. The flower bushes that swayed in thelight evening breeze cast long shadows on the ground. I walked toward him on the narrow brick path carefully. The only sounds were the dampened notes of the band on the other side of the building, the crickets chirping, the trickle of the fountain in the center of the garden, and the clinking of glasses and plates and metal serving trays just far enough away that we felt alone.
“Hi,” I said.
He turned. “Hey.” His expression was inscrutable.
“Francesca said I might find you out here.”
“Just needed a minute. We can head back.” He started in the direction of the house.
“Hey.” I grabbed his arm, forcing him to look at me. I let go once he stopped and faced me. “What’s going on?”
“I’m sorry about earlier, Val. Not correcting your ex. I should’ve known you’d be embarrassed if someone like him thought you were dating a townie construction worker.” By the end, he was looking over my shoulder.
My brows knit together.That’s why he’s upset?
That’s what he thinks?
“I was not embarrassed.” His eyes found mine, irises oscillating as he scanned my expression. I grabbed his forearm again, needing to have some part of me touching some part of him. “Neversay that. I would never be embarrassed to be with someone like you. You’re smart and driven and sensitive, you’re the best dad, the best friend. You’re, well, you look like that”—I gestured to him with my other hand—“and you—youseeme. Not what you want to see, but the real me.”
I held his gaze, sure that my eyes were shiny by now. “If I was with you, I would be so proud.” My voice broke.
“You would?” He brought his thumb to my lip.
“Yes,” I whispered. I wanted him to kiss me so badly I could scream. “Do you…have feelings for me, too?” The question my heart had been chanting for weeks came out so softly he wouldn’t have heard me if he wasn’t standing so close.
He looked at me likeI was insane.
“Of course I do.” His face was adamant, incredulous. “Isn’t it obvious? I can’t help myself when I’m around you. I want to be near you all the time, talk to you all the time.Touchyou all the time.” My skin exploded with tingles with the way he saidtouch.
So touch me,my body answered, stepping closer. He stood so close to me now, I could feel his heat, tempering the post-sunset chill in the air.
“But, Val. You just broke up with someone. I didn’t want to swoop in too fast. And with everything you’ve been working through this summer. It’s a lot.” His hand cupped my chin, giving me nowhere to look except his face, his lips, while his thumb continued to stroke my lower lip. “I—weare a lot to sign up for.”
We.
Him and Luna.
“It doesn’t scare m?—”
