Page 55 of Brighter Together

I indicate and pull into the next lay-by.

“What are you doing?” she asks.

“Stopping before one of us says something stupid while I’m doing sixty.”

I park facing the lake and switch off the engine.

For a moment, neither of us moves.

Cars pass behind us, and a couple in bright walking jackets stand near the wall taking pictures of the water. Inside the car, everything feels strangely still.

I unfasten my seatbelt and turn towards her.

Ella is looking down at the coffee cup in her hands, running one thumb along the cardboard seam.

“Can you look at me?” I ask quietly.

Eventually she locks eyes with me. Her cheeks are already pink.

“Do you regret kissing me?” I ask. My heart starts beating faster.

“No.” The answer is immediate.

Somewhere in my chest, something unclenches.

“Do you?” she asks cautiously.

“No.” I shake my head.

She studies my face as though checking I mean it.

“Then why did you look so uncomfortable when we left the hotel?” she asks.

“Because you looked uncomfortable,” I sigh.

“I looked uncomfortable because you looked uncomfortable.”

We stare at each other for a second.

Then Ella starts laughing.

I let my head fall back against the seat. “Fucking hell.”

“This is ridiculous,” she says.

“Completely,” I agree.

“I spent all weekend thinking I’d made an idiot of myself.”

“So did I.”

Her laughter fades. “You did?”

“I wrote you about six different text messages.”

Her eyebrows lift. “I didn’t get any.”

“Deleted every single one of them.”