Page 59 of Love Felt Like This

I catch Ava toddling toward the window to look at Steak, smiling unlike I’ve seen her so far. No tears from winding roads and ears popping.

The longer we stand there, the more I start to consider. Maybe it’ll be good for Ava. And if Griffin’s closer, we could work on the show more. We could get this prepped for pitching. I could get back to LA sooner.

“Could be good,” I blurt out.

“What?”

“Moving in. And I’m all right with it if you are.”

He narrows his eyes. “You are?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Oh. Well. Good.” But he’s awkward. I wonder if he even wants to move in, and I’m over here pressuring him. Way to go, Beverly.

I smile, but it’s tense. Quiet. Then I finally say, “We don’t know each other well, do we?”

“No,” he agrees. He clears his throat. “That’s my fault, I guess.”

“How?”

“I followed a stranger to her hometown just so I could write music.”

“And now you’re moving into her guesthouse.”

“Maybe moving in.”

I lean back against the wall, scratching a thumb over my nail polish.

“Then let’s not be strangers anymore,” I say. “I can’t have a stranger in my backyard, anyway.”

“Okay, so not strangers.”

“See? Easy.”

“And what are we, then?”

“Friends.”

“And I’m your boyfriend?”

My heart hammers so fast it almost chokes me. “W-what?”

“The town. What you said earlier.”

I cringe. “Oh God,” I look at the wall—anywhere but at him. “Yes. Probably. I’m so sorry.”

“No, I started it back in LA.”

“But I continued it.”

He shrugs. “It’s only for a couple months. Then we’ll…figure it out from there. You never got your apology from Beau, anyway.”

My face heats. “I…that’s not important.”

“It’s important to me.”

I swallow. There’s a very intense divot between his eyebrows. He’s dead serious about that apology.