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He brushes that off. “That’s because I don’t have to yell at him about school.”
“That and you’re everything he wants to be one day. I can’t blame him one bit.”
“I’m gonna miss you when I leave in two weeks. We haven’t had much time to talk about it, and I know long distance is hard, especially with your career and all.”
I nod and pull my feet out of the water, crisscrossing them underneath me and turning toward him. A beat later, he does the same.
“I’m in if you are.”
He releases his breath. “You’re sure?”
“A hundred percent.”
“It might suck.”
“More than losing your best friend or raising your siblings?” I push.
The corner of his mouth quirks up. “Probably not that much.”
“Know what I love about you…” I trail off meaningfully.
He stiffens before his lips spread in a full-blown smile. “No. What do you love about me?”
“You,” I whisper, pressing closer to him. “I just love you.” And then I kiss him.
He pulls back, putting space between us. “Hold on. I get to say it, too.”
“You don’t have to,” I insist. “Wait till you mean it.”
“I’ve meant it for months now. I love you, Winnie Sutton.”
I make a face. “We’re so gross. It’s kind of embarrassing how in love we are.”
He barks out a laugh, tugging me close and tipping us off-balance so he’s on his back and I’m on top of him.
“Unflinching, remember? We’ll handle anything that comes at us,” he insists, his words a puff of air on my lips.
“Unflinching,” I vow, sealing the deal with another long kiss.
Thirty-ThreeEPILOGUE
New Year’s Eve
CASE
“I can’t believe you talked us into this,” Winnie mutters, sinking as far back from the ledge of the water tower platform as she can so only her boots are dangling.
I laugh, clutching the glass bottle of Dr Pepper in my fingers. “We should definitely have waited for summer. It’s fucking cold out here.”
“At least it’s not my parents’ corn silo this time,” Pax drawls, taking a long draw of his soda while his arms loop through the metal railing.
“Eh. As amazing as that was, and truly, it was fantastic—”
Pax snorts. “You don’t remember.”
“Imostlyremember,” I correct him before continuing. “Anyway, there wasn’t enough room for anyone else up there. One seater, max capacity. Did you know you could drown in one of those things? Fucking Walker.”
“At least the silo had the benefit of a hot tub nearby,” Pax points out.
