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My jaw bunched at the memory. “Well, I wouldn’t exactly call it a breakup. It was pretty much a one-sided thing. I never actually told her how I felt.”
“Why not? Do you still have feelings for her?”
Too scared to speak for fear that the truth would escape, I nodded.
“Tell her. You’ve got to jump on all the good things while you can.” Everly set her glass on the table. “Let’s role-play. I have the kids do this to teach them the importance of using their words. What would you tell this mystery woman if she were standing in front of you?”
I stared at the girl I’d loved for years. My stomach knotted. “Here? Now?”
“Pretend that I’m her, Wyatt. What would you say to me?”
I took several deep breaths. Were we really going to do this? It was all kinds of messed up.
“Please?” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “We used to tell each other everything. Pretend that I’m the girl of your dreams. What would you tell me?”
I stared at the woman who still held my heart. It had been some time since I last saw her. But she hadn’t changed. Not really. Not where it mattered. I ran my gaze along Everly’s arm, traced her bare, glittery shoulder, skimmed the gentle curve of her neck, up over her plump, rosy lips, and finally came to rest on her eyes, their color of the ocean on a perfect summer’s day.
“Wyatt?”
Something hot and dangerous flickered inside. “I’d tell you that I’ve loved you forever. You were my best friend, and somehow, while hanging out and watching way too many late-night movies, you became my everything. The chocolate to my vanilla, the moon to my stars. The woman I trusted to hold all my hopes and fears.” I took a step forward and stopped less than a foot away, close enough that I could finally caress her.
Her skin felt as smooth as it looked. No longer holding back, I ran my fingertips slowly down her neck and over the strap of the tank top. Everly’s eyes widened, and her breath hitched. Intoxicated by her response to my touch, I leaned in, catching the faintest whiff of peach lotion and sunlight.
“If you were this woman,” I murmured, my mouth less than an inch away from her skin, my self-control fraying, “I’d tell you that I’ve often wondered what your skin would taste like and how I’ve had endless dreams of claiming your mouth with mine.”
Everly jerked back against the dining room table, toppling her glass of water. A bright red blush stained her cheeks and décolletage. “I-I’d better get that.” She picked up the glass and grabbed a hand towel from the counter, not looking at me as she wiped up the spill. “Wow. You should tell her all of that. This mystery woman would be foolish not to want you.”
My heart thundered in my chest. Or my brother’s ex-girlfriend, who I needed to convince to date him again. I took a seat and exhaled slowly, trying to ignore how every inch of my body hungered for her touch.
Man, I was screwed a million ways over.
“Have I shown you what I’m working on?” Everly frantically searched through the clothes on the table and held up a brown bodice against herself. “This will be part of my Sanderson sister costume.”
Oh, for freaking sake. The universe was conspiring against me today because now I couldn’t stop picturing her in a bodice. Shifting uncomfortably in my seat, I took several gulps of water and nodded, avoiding looking in her direction until I calmed down. “It looks fantastic.”
“Really? I know it was your idea, but you don’t think Quinn, Indie, and me dressing as the witches fromHocus Pocusis a little over the top, do you?”
Where was this insecurity coming from? This wasn’t the Everly I knew. The one who’d dyed her hair different colors on a regular basis, depending on her mood.
“Lukas used to tease me about it all the time. ‘There goes Everly with one of her ideas again.’” She chuckled quietly, but I saw red.
My brother could be as obnoxious as he wanted to me, but to say something like that to her? It was like telling the northern lights they were too bright.
“I think it’s perfect. All of it. The costume, the decorations, your school.”You.“You’re amazing, Ev. Everything you touch turns to magic.”
Her smile stole my breath away. “Thanks. You always did know the right things to say.”
My phone buzzed.
Lukas:How’s it going with Ev?
Lukas:You two were best friends. You’ll know what to say.
Hitby a cold dose of reality, my chest tightened and I pulled away.
“Do you need to get that?” Ev asked.
“No, it can wait.” I already knew what my brother wanted, and I wasn’t ready to broach the subject with her. “Can I see the rest of your place?”
