Page 46 of Library or Lattes?

“No, it’s okay, thanks, I’m a big girl, I can walk.”

He cleared his throat as if he was going to object, but … didn’t.

I kept my head down as I left, dodging anyone who might want to chat. Lennie, Krista, and Avery were all gone, which was too bad because I could have used some girl time right then. I couldn’t wait to call Lennie when I got home.

Then Carter was standing there, holding a brown paper bag. “Hey, Willa,” he said. “Just grabbed the last banana cream pie from Mrs. Burrows. Told my whole dorm about this stuff. Shame they won’t get to taste any.”

“Mrs. Burrows sure does make the best pie,” I agreed.

“You guys had the best stall tonight. Your friend Krista dragged me to every single one, so it’s not like I haven’t compared.”

“Thanks, yeah, it was fun, and we made some great money for the Kissing Tree.” First I couldn’t talk in front of Carter, and now I couldn’t shut up?

“You crushed it!” He stopped, took the pie from his bag, and opened the plastic lid. “I’m sorry, but this pie is not going to survive the walk home. You walking?”

I nodded. “Do you even have a fork?” I screwed up my face.

But he pulled two wooden forks out of his back pocket. “Not one, but two, Taylor. Being at college has taught me to always be prepared for after-hours eating.” He even offered me the first bite.

“Oh my God, so good,” I said, suddenly starving.

“So good, right?”

We walked side by side, sharing pie. And it didn’t feel awkward at all.

I breathed in the cool fall air, trying to clear my head.

Carter looked over. “You know what, Taylor, you should see the stars in Pennsylvania, it gets so dark you can see the whole Milky Way.” He waved an arm toward the sky and almost dropped the pie.

“Don’t drop the pie! Never drop the pie!” I screamed as he laughed and found his balance.

“So, Penn State, how’s that going?” I asked, taking another bite. This was a surprisingly friendly chat.

“Great, actually. I’m doing a semester abroad next year. In Rome.”

Rome.

“Really? That’s amazing.”

“You’ve got …” He reached over and wiped something from my face. “Cream.” He grinned and stuck his finger in his mouth.

I was glad he couldn’t see the color of my cheeks in the dark. Carter no longer made my heart flutter, but I was still human!

“Can’t wait to get out of the country for a bit. You know? See something different. Have you traveled much?”

I shook my head. “Never left the States. I’d like to.”

“You should. Seriously, Taylor. Senior year is the perfect time to figure all that stuff out. The world is your oyster.” He grinned to make his cheesy comment not so cheesy.

The lights weren’t on in my driveway, I noticed, which meant Pop was out again. “This is me,” I said. “Thanks for going out of your way.” I knew the Blakes lived a few streets over.

“Don’t sweat it. And hey, if you ever want to talk about travel stuff, or college or whatever, I’m around for a few more weeks. We could grab pie or something.” He smiled and didn’t break my gaze.

“Yeah, maybe, thanks, Carter.”

“See you around, Taylor.”

I opened the door, kind of confused. Did Carter Blake just ask me on a date? Did I want it to be a date? Maybe? Carter didn’t seem to be hiding anything. He was all pie and stars and talk about travel.