He harrumphed in amusement, his eyes still closed. “Yeah, not so much. I wouldn’t go back there if you paid me.”
“Mmmm.” I lay with my head against his thudding heart, letting my fingers roam over his skin. “I agree. But can I just say that I’m so very glad that Peg and Charlie talked me into coming to this reunion, even though I fought them hard on it?”
“You can say that, if I can admit that I’m equally happy that Reggie and Max pushed me into coming. And that I was a real son of a bitch to both of them before I left, too.”
“I thought about just driving past the exit for the Cove and going down to Cocoa Beach,” I confessed. “And then I planned to tell Peg and Charlie that I’d come to the reunion and had a wonderful time.”
“No judgement here. I told you that I was planning to leave as soon as I saw Jared. I was hoping to be heading north by Friday morning.”
I rolled a little, resting my chin on the center of Nash’s chest. “Are you happy that you stayed?”
“So happy.” He crunched up until his lips could reach mine. “So very happy.”
“Good. Me, too.” I let out a contented sigh.
“Peyton.” Nash sounded tentative, his voice a little gruff. “I want to ask you something, but I don’t want to ruin—this.”
“Unless you’re asking if I can leave right now, I don’t think anything could ruin this.”
“Okay.” He threaded his fingers through my hair. “We just re-connected?—”
I snorted. “That’s one way of describing it.”
“—and we found out that we live near each other. Crazy close, as a matter of fact.”
“Mmmmhmmm.” My eyes began to flutter closed.
“I don’t want this weekend to be a one-time thing.” He twirled a strand of my hair around one of his fingers. “I want . . . I was hoping, I mean . . . that we could see each other again once we’re back home in Georgia.”
“Oh.” My eyes flew open now.
“I told you that I never got over you. I never thought I’d have another chance to be with you—that we’d get a second chance.”
“I know, Nash. I didn’t think so either. But—” I began to sit up, to be able to see him better. “This weekend—it isn’t reality. It’s a time set apart, you know. In a way, we’ve been back in the past for the last few days, getting a chance to—well, like you said, a second chance. And it’s been wonderful.” I hesitated, groping with what to say next. “We both have real lives, though. And I’m not sure if—if this beautiful second chance from the past will fit in with those lives.”
“Why wouldn’t they?” Nash demanded. “We’re both single. Unattached. We’re not ancient, Peyton. But we only have so many years left to do this. I don’t want to lose this opportunity. I don’t want to lose you. Again.”
I touched his cheek. “I don’t want to lose you, either. I’m a little scared, though, that in real life, I might be . . . disappointing to you. I might not live up to this crazy image of me that you have in your head.”
“That’s impossible.” Nash sat up, too, slipping his arm around me and easing me closer to him. “There’s nothing you could do that would disappoint me, Peyton.” He kissed my cheek, my nose, my eyes and then my lips. “Just say we can see each other again after this weekend is over. We don’t have to jump into anything serious, but let’s see where this goes when we’re together back in Georgia.”
My insides were churning, and alarm bells were sounding in my head, but then Nash brushed his hand over my breast, his lips making insistent forays down my neck, and I couldn’t remember why the two of us together wasn’t the best idea ever.
“All right,” I murmured. “Let’s take a chance and see what happens.”
Chapter Nine
Peyton
It seemed that I had come full circle this weekend—in more ways than one.
Last night—and again this morning—I’d once more made a promise to Nash Sampson—or at least, I’d agreed to give the idea ofusa try. And this time, I planned to keep that vow. Saying goodbye to him before he’d left the Cove to drive north hadn’t been easy, but at least I knew we were both returning to homes that weren’t very far from each other. We had a chance, and that was more than I’d ever expected to have.
And now, I was once again sitting on the family side of the Rip Tide’s parking lot . . . stalling.
I’d managed to avoid Jude this weekend. More accurately, I’d avoided being seen by her, and I definitely hadn’t wanted to talk with my cousin. But I knew that leaving without saying goodbye would be petty and wrong. Jude had stood by me all these years, even when I had been too stubborn to come home. She didn’t deserve my cold shoulder.
When I finally forced myself to walk into the Tide, it was quiet, which didn’t surprise me; Sunday afternoons were slow, particularly when it wasn’t football season and right after a huge event like the reunion.
