Page 114 of The Summer of Second Chances

I didn’t call after him. I didn’t ask if he’d be back.

Instead, I watched him in the rearview mirror until he’d disappeared into the building. And then I unlocked my phone to check my texts before tapping over to Instagram. Maisie loved watching Reels, so my algorithm was truly unhinged. In what world did AI singing cat videos and deep clean bathroom footage mix with stand-up comedy clips and spring style in the South of France?

I went to my Spotify after a couple one-pot-meal tutorials. Slowly, I scrolled through some of my recent playlists. Nothing seemed quite right, but as soon as I lost myself in startingsomething from scratch, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

His touch electrocuted every inch of my body.

“Hi there,” Connor said, only inches away from me. The driver door was the only barrier between us. “I don’t mean to scare you, but you’re in my car.”

“Wait, what?” I knitted my eyebrows together. “I could’ve sworn this was mine…”

“Unless you live in Pennsylvania and visit your floral wallpaper–obsessed aunt in Hilton Head when you’re not playing in lacrosse tournaments, I don’t think so.”

“Oh, jeez, I’m sorry.” I winced, and even felt myself blush. “How embarrassing.”

“No, no, don’t worry about it.” The corners of his mouth quirked up in amusement. “I’ve seen another blue Wrangler in this lot.”

I gave him a look. “You come here often?”

“At least twice a week. You?”

“Double that.”

“Yeah, I was wondering,” he said. “You look really familiar.” He took a breath that made my pulse skipone, two, three. “I’m Connor McCallister.”

“Olivia Lupo,” I heard myself say, and while my mind flashed ahead to him leaning into the car to kiss me, his voice brought me back to the moment.

“Ice cream?” he asked, seemingly for a second time. “Are youin the mood for ice cream?”

“Yes!” I grinned as my heart ignited. “I’m always in the mood for ice cream.”

“Great, so am I.” He grinned back, then tossed me his keys and winked. “Let’s go.”