Elise’s hair is the most beautiful shade of strawberry blonde I’d ever seen. I wonder how she’d look with green hair.
“What did she do?” I ask, a little awestruck.
“She cut nipple holes into all his shirts. We were in Paris at the time, so imagine that bloke walking around with his nipples out in the fashion capital of the world.”
I laugh so hard at the mental image that if I’d been eating, I probably would have spit out my food. “You guys are ruthless.”
He shrugs. “It’s all in good spirits.” He reaches out to grab the blanket I had wrapped around my shoulders, pulling it up higher. “Warm enough?”
“Yeah.” I wish I had said no just for an excuse to get closer to Tom.
This friend group seems like fun, though I’d never want to be on the wrong end of one of Archie’s pranks. I let myself wonder for a minute what it would be like to be a part of the group, traveling from country to country. The idea makes Iceland seem like just a drop in the bucket.
Tom reaches his arm out, wrapping it around my torso lightly, inviting me closer. “Then you should stop shivering.” He leans closer to me. His eyes linger on me, and I wonder if this is what it’s like to meet someone by chance and just fall into them.
“Sorry, I guess I just need to warm up,” I say, the words almost a whisper.
Tom smiles, as if my words are permission, and leans closer until our lips meet. It’s a quick, soft touch until our attention is pulled away.
“Hey!” Archie shouts, coming back to the cars. Tom and I both break away, the kiss barely even a peck. “Looks like it’s going to be too cloudy to see anything tonight.”
Tom and I both look up at the sky, which is black. Not a starin sight.
“Let’s pack things up then,” Tom says, getting up.
I get a text from Luke:Everything okay?He’s probably worried that I got lost or fell off a cliff somewhere.
I type out a quick response. Yeah, heading back now. Be there soon.I leave it vague, feeling a bit weird about telling Luke I’ve been hanging out with someone. Kissing someone.
“Want to come back to our place? We’ve got a big rental.” Tom helps put the blankets we’ve been using back in the car.
“No, I have a friend waiting for me.”
“Your friend let you go to dinner alone?” he asks, eyebrow cocked.
I shrug. “We wanted to do different things today.” It was close enough to the truth.
“Well, what are your plans for tomorrow?”
I glance around in the darkness. “See this place in the daylight?”
That wins a big smile from Tom. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and hands it to me. “Put your number in.”
I take it but have to open my phone to find my number since I bought a new SIM card just for Iceland. I hand the phone back to Tom to type it in.
He fiddles with it quickly. “There. Now you have my number.” I hear the text message come through.
See you tomorrow??
I fight to hold back my smile. “See you tomorrow,” I confirm, turning toward my car.
I give everyone a quick wave as I pull away. The drive down the steep road is just as bad, if not worse, than the driveup. I’ll make Luke drive tomorrow so I can enjoy myself rather than feeling like I’m going to topple off the cliff.
It’s almost midnight by the time I pull up to the Airbnb, and I immediately feel guilty when I pull in the driveway. Not only because I was out so late, but I realize that all of Luke’s belongings are in the car that I’ve been driving all day.
I grab both our bags from the back seat and drag them to the front door of the tiny house. I’m about to open the door, but Luke beats me to it.
“The answer to this next question will determine how mad I am at you.” He crosses his arms and blocks the doorway.
