Page 65

“Well, it wouldn’t have been like that when we were teenagers,” I point out.

He runs his fingers along my spine in a way that makes me shiver. “I think we always would’ve fit like that.” He rolls me next to him, planting a kiss on my lips, then gets up to discard the condom.

Henry saunters back toward the bed, naked and confident, and so very mine. He sinks back onto the mattress, wrapping himself around me.

“In all the times I imagined you, this, us, and believe me, I’ve thought about this a lot, I have to say,” he murmurs into my ear. “It is infinitely better in real life than I ever could have dreamed. I lo—latke,” he corrects himself, “you. So much.”

“I latke you too. All of you,” I reply, letting my eyes wander down his entire body.

He laughs into my hair, running his hands all over me.

“Hen, you better quit while you’re ahead or I’m going to need you back inside me pronto, and I don’t know if I can go again without eating first.”

He dips down to kiss my neck, tongue moving flat against the hollow of my throat, until he reaches my lips, devouring them. My hips start to undulate, but he pulls away.

“Let’s get you some food, then.” He sits up, knowing he’s torturing me.

Chapter 19

I pull my leggings back on, the chill of no longer being enmeshed with Henry seeping into my body. His closet is open as he hangs his suit back up, trading the slacks for drawstring pants and a hoodie. My eyes fall over him, looking like the version of Henry I knew before, and my whole body sighs. He glances over at me.

“You’re shivering,” he says, pulling something off a hanger and walking toward me. He tugs the fabric over one arm, and then the other, zipping me in.

I look down and see the unmistakable Laketon Academy Baseball logo. It’s too big for me, but he looks so pleased with himself that I can’t help but return his goofy smile. I spent years stealing this sweatshirt every time I came over here. I make a mental note to not return it. It wouldn’t fit across his broad shoulders anymore anyway, I reason. It’s mine now.

Back downstairs in the kitchen, Henry rummages through the fridge. “Mom had me empty this before we left for the lodge,” he says. “We were going to go to the store tomorrow.” I shrug as he pulls out a loaf of bread and two sealed blocks of cheese. “Grilled cheese?”

“I…don’t have any Lactaid on me,” I say, embarrassed, my very Jewish digestive tract betraying me once again.

“Second cabinet on the left,” he says, gesturing with his elbow as he starts to cut slices of cheese. “Mom has them for Sara.”

“Thanks,” I say, reaching up to grab the pills that will allow me to enjoy dairy in peace.

I flip my phone back over and see a few texts from Hannah.

Hannah

Date was a bust

Another, half an hour later.

Hannah

Hey where are you??

“Hannah knows I’m not home,” I relay to Henry. “What should I say?”

“Tell her you’re fine and that you’ll see her in the morning,” he says with a wicked glint in his eyes.

“Won’t our moms know too if I spend the night over here?” I ask slowly.

“They will.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

He sets down the knife he’s holding and circles the island to wrap his arms around me. “Norah, we got through the proposal. They’re living happily ever after. Mission accomplished. Every cliché sentence in the books.” His hands dip underneath the hem of the baseball hoodie I’ve once again claimed as mine, grazing the bare skin of my hip. “Now we can do whatever the hell we want. Plus, I’m pretty sure they know something is going on between us.”

“There was always something, huh?”