“Oh. Sorry. She’s my sister-in-law. She’s married to my older brother, James.”
We talked about her heart condition for a few minutes.
“So, like, your family sounds happy and stuff,” I said stupidly, but I couldn’t help myself.
“Sure.” His forehead creased. “Why wouldn’t they?”
“No reason. But if your family is so close, why are you all the way out here, so far from them?”
“My job. I love being a hotshot. I can’t do that back east.” He shrugged barely. “I like who I am out here, away from my family’s spotlight. I’m way more chill.”
He was chill. His posture. His smile. His attitude. Even the way he’d turned me down last night. None of it was intense. Which made me wonder what he was like when he was home with the rest of the Duprees.
When the next song started on the radio, one of Cash’slatest hits, he grinned, turned the volume a little higher, and hummed along. And I just watched.
I wish I could be that calm, I thought. But then, as I paid attention to myself, I realized that for the first time in maybe ever, I was.
Huh.
Apparently, somewhere between Las Vegas and La Verkin, Utah, the noise inside me had gone quiet. My stomach wasn’t buzzing with anxiety. In fact, it was buoyant—and it was accompanied by the feeling that for the first time in my life, I was in the right place, at the right time, with the right person.
I undid my seatbelt and slid over next to Griffin. “One selfie. Just so we can remember,” I pleaded. “And so my friend Fallon will cover for me at work?”
He looked over at me, his eyes warm. “You need covering? It’s Saturday.”
“Tomorrow, I do,” I admitted. “I have a mandatory meeting, and my boss will want to know why I’m not there.”
“On a Sunday?”
I shrugged. “On a Sunday.”
“And hiking the Narrows with a friend isn’t a good enough excuse?” he asked, voice light. But his expression was a tad concerned.
“Not after I just got back from vacation,” I lied. “And Fallon doesn’t work for free.” I blew out apfftlike that fact annoyed me. Truth be told, I wanted the selfie way more than Fallon. When this weekend was over, I’d need a visual reminder that it hadn’t all been a dream. “So, unless you want the world to find out I was with Griffin Dupree, I have to appease Fallon with a bribe,” I teased.
“Fine.” He smiled.
I wrapped my free hand around his bicep and leaned my head on his shoulder, my heart racing at finally being able totouch him. Then I angled the phone down so we were both smiling up at the camera.
Click.
I studied the picture, my stomach and chest floating at being pressed against his side. “Not photogenic, my eye. I mean, look at you.” I showed him the picture. “First take, and we could be a book cover couple.”
“Let’s be honest.” A chuckle rumbled from his chest, reverberating into me. “You’re doing eighty percent of the heavy lifting in that photo.”
I laughed. “Eighty percent. Whatever. Fifty-fifty.”
“Seventy-thirty. Final offer.”
“No deal.” I beamed at him. “Sixty-forty. Your deep voice tips the scale in your favor.”
“You can’t hear my voice in a photo.”
“I can.” I sighed happily. “For the rest of my life, I’ll hear your voice every time I look at this picture.”
“You like my voice, huh?” he murmured.
“Yes,” I said unabashedly. “I like it very much.” And with that, I reached over and grabbed the middle seatbelt so I could stay right where I was. I quickly sent Fallon the photo with strict instructions not to download or show it to anyone. Then I shut off my phone and slipped it into my purse.
