AllFreeNovel
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She purses her lips.
“You don’t believe me?”
“I think there’s more to the story than you’re sharing.”
She’s right.
I lower my voice. “Maybe I just like to collect facts to impress distressed women escaping weddings on roof-decks.”
She tenses, as if just remembering something terrible.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have joked about that.”
“No saying ‘I’m sorry,’ remember?” Her voice leaves no room for debate.
“Why do you hate ‘I’m sorry’?”
“I don’t know. I’ve heard ‘I’m sorry’ enough to last a lifetime, I guess. It’s a throwaway.” She slides a glance my way, and a glint of something playful in her eyes makes my breath catch. “Anyway, it’s boring. If you’re going to say something, say something interesting.”
“Oof. No pressure, huh?” My hand rubs my chin, exaggerating my thinking process. I gamble with a line that will either make her smile or completely send her running. “So ... why aren’t you married yet?”
It sparks a laugh that is at once husky and light. “Will,” she says, a note of warning in her voice. My entire chest fills with lightness at the way she says my name.
It’s a sign that I need to end this conversation and go. But I don’t. I lean closer, feel the heat vibrating off her skin. “What? That grandmother type can ask you, but I can’t? We’ve shared wine.”
“Are you always this nosy?”
If it weren’t for the glimmer of delight in her eyes, I’d think I overstepped my bounds.
“Can’t help it. Stories are my thing.Weremy thing,” I correct and angle myself to see whether her expression fills with pity. Only empathy stares back. Empathy, and an ember of that flare of temper she’d shown. It’s sexy as hell.
Hope clears her throat. “I should get back to the party. My sister’s probably worried about me.” She stands and holds the bottle out to me. “Thanks for the drink. I ... uh ... promise I don’t have cooties or anything.”
“If I wake up with the flu, at least now I know a nurse who can take care of me.”
The smile that line earns me is a sad ghost of what I saw earlier.
I reach for the bottle, and our hands connect. Electricity sparks in my fingertips and sweeps through every nerve ending. She holds the bottle. For a heartbeat, we’re frozen, our eyes locked. Hers have shades of green that look luminescent in the moonlight.
Laughter filters up from the parking lot. Hope releases the bottle, and it’s somehow heavier than it was before. Another cascade of laughter ripples up, and Hope steps back, into the roof-deck’s shadows, which embrace her with eagerness. She heads toward the door. Without turning back, she pulls it open and disappears into the dark hallway.
The door slams, bringing with it a rush of air and good sense.
The last thing I need is a relationship to complicate my life.
No relationships. No complications. No extra ties to Kingsette.
3
HOPE
Fog tumbles down from the mountains in the distance and crawls in my direction. A thin line of gold is just visible over the horizon, a slow-moving turn to day, as if the sun would have rather stayed in bed too. As if, like me, it’s trying to make itself scarce so the newlyweds can enjoy a bit of privacy their first morning back home after their wedding weekend.
They want you there.They’ve said as much. Together and separately.
I push my legs faster up the trail, which I navigate by muscle memory. Tessa and I found this trail as kids, but Brandon and I made it our own. We hiked it more times than I can remember. At the top, there’s a small clearing where you can see the entire town. Where you feel like you’ve escaped. Even if only for a little while.
It’s where Brandon proposed.
