“Goodnight, beautiful. Happy birthday.” I gave her one more soft kiss to the lips, then reluctantly pulled away and headed back to the couch. She stayed in the doorway for a moment, looking dazed, then I heard the soft click of her door closing.
I groaned, flopping down onto the couch that would be my bed for the night before my flight out the next day—but after that kiss, I doubted I’d get much sleep.
Only two weeks until I moved to Vermont, and so much closer to Brooke.
“But you didn’t sleepwith her.” Val shook her head in disbelief, staring at me as if I had sprouted three heads.
“Brooke isn’t the kind of girl you just fall into bed with,” I explained. “She’s a ‘handle with care’ kind of girl.”
“Um, excuse me, dipshit, are you calling women fragile?”
“No!” I’m sure my face was panic-stricken. “No, of course not. And Brooke is the last thing from fragile. God, she’s unbelievably strong. She’s been through so much and she still keeps fighting. I think even you would be impressed by her.”
Val’s serious face suddenly broke. “I’m messing with you, you lovesick doofus. I know you aren’t the kind of dude that thinks women are breakable—despite your White Knight syndromeissues. And now you have the whole summer to woo the princess, Cade-Adler style.”
“Yeah...” I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. “I just hope this is really what she wants. It’s so much harder for me to read her than it was in high school.”
“She’s the kind of girl with walls.” Val nodded sagely. “Trust me, I get it. But you know the thing about walls? They can be climbed. You just need a ladder. And you, my friend... are a firefighter. Ladders are kind of your whole thing. And hoses. But that doesn’t really fit the metaphor.”
I couldn’t control my laughter.
“Can’t wait to hear how it all plays out,” she finished, and I realized we were nearing our goodbye for now.
“I’ll miss you too, Val.”
“Pft, I’ll miss Echo. You? We’ll see.”
From our spot at the cafe, I looked out to the crashing waves.
It was a perfect day in early June, the day before I was set to leave for Vermont. I had taken my board out early for one last surf. My small apartment was packed up.
Per our tradition, I met up with Val after my surf.
Val’s friend Aaron from the tattoo shop was looking for a place to sublet, so he was moving into my place until the first of August. All in all, it had come together seamlessly.
Val and I said our goodbyes, and I swear she got a little misty-eyed. She, of course, blamed it on the Santa Anas blowing dust in her eyes, the vicious California winds we firefighters called “devil winds.”
I wrapped Val in a hug. “Sure—we can blame the Santa Anas. I wouldn’t expect you to get emotional over me.” I dabbed at the corner of her eye, careful not to smudge the dark makeup there. “I’ll text you. See you in a couple months.”
20
BROOKE
Things had been going so well with Cade. As soon as he left on my birthday weekend, Whit called me to the living room for a tell-all session.
“So he walked me to my bedroom door, then he leaned me against the doorframe?—
“Oh my god, romance book move,” Whit interrupted.
“—and kissed me senseless.”
“And?” she prompted.
“What do you meanand?” I chuckled. “And he went to sleep on the couch! What, did you expect him to come to my room that night and ravish me? With you and Ivy in the next room?”
“Uh, better question is, didyouwant him to come into your room that night? Are you ready for that after?—”
“I’m ready,” I cut off, defensively. “But we’re just... you know, taking things slow. I can tell he’s been holding back with me. He wants to start dating when he moves back to Vermont for the summer, though. That’s what he told me in the kitchen during the party.”
