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“You don’t bake donuts, Till,” Ronnie said, holding her hand in front of her as she laughed. “That’d be a killer bakery name, though.”
“I know, right?” I reached in for another donut hole, grabbing a chocolate one that time. “What about Best Friends Donuts, Incorporated?”
Ronnie froze and pounced on me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. “It’s long, but I love it.”
“It could probably use some work,” I said as our hug ended. “But it’s true.”
“Yep,” she said with a smile. “You know, it’s always weird coming home. But spending time with you makes it a little easier.”
“I know,” I said with a nod. “Makes me yearn for summer.”
“Totally.” Ronnie kicked a rock as we found ourselves on Wyatt’s street. If we turned left, we’d eventually land at his house. Without even realizing it, I stopped at the corner, paralyzed to keep walking.
“You okay?”
“I, um…no, I’m not. He’s right down there. You know, like, right there.”
“He’s on your campus now, too, Till,” Ronnie said with an awkward laugh. “You can see him all the time. If you want to, that is.”
I stared down the quiet street. “I don’t know what to do.”
“I do,” Ronnie said, running her hand down my forearm. “Go on. Let him in.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Of course, it is.”
“This isn’t like you and Miguel, Ronnie. There’s…a big history here. It’s complicated.”
“I’m not saying you have to marry the guy. I’m just saying, maybe it’s a good time to talk to him?”
“Right now?” I asked, feeling overwhelmed.
“Why not?” she asked, raising both her arms.
“First, it’s awkward. And second, I would wake up his whole house.”
“I know for a fact you have ways around that.”
She was right. I did.
“I don’t want to lead him on, Ronnie. I’m not sure how I feel or what I want. He destroyed me. I don’t know if I can let him do that all over again.”
“And what makes you so sure that he will?”
“I don’t know…just a hunch?”
“Or a presumption.” Ronnie challenged me. “There’s only one way to find out.
“I can’t just leave you on the street alone.”
“You do realize I live a block from him, right? And I’ll run home, so it’s no big deal.”
“You’ll run with a Diet Coke and donuts in your hands?”
“What? Like it’s hard?” she teased. “Come on, Till. Put those fingernails to good use.”
“What?” I asked, looking down at my long, red nails, not understanding what she was saying.
“Tap, tap, tap,” she said, raising both of her eyebrows and pretending to tap her fingertips against an invisible surface.
And then it hit me. Ronnie was right. I had a method of seeing Wyatt without waking his family. It was a method I’d used on a certain day in particular. A day with Slurpees and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
And for the first time in years, when it came to Wyatt, I knew what I had to do. I didn’t know how I felt or what I wanted, but I knew exactly where I wanted to go.
And I only wanted to go there with him.
