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Raindrops are cool on my lips.
Nick’s breath is minty. It whispers against my skin. “You’re not?”
“Nope. I called my agent from the airport a couple hours ago. I asked him if we could handle business virtually. He has no problem with it.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I catch a flash of reflected light. The diner doors open, and Roxie steps out. Then my grandpa, and my gran. My mom and dad follow, and soon others from the checkers club spill out to the dry patch of walkway under the awning.
I don’t mind the fact that they’re watching.
For the first time, I don’t feel any desire to hide.
“So—you’re staying?” Nick whispers to me.
The giddy, happy feeling growing steadily within me makes me want to cry. “Yeah. I’m staying. Everything I need is here in?—”
He bends down and places his lips on mine before I can get the last word out.
Stillwell.
Everything I really need is right here, in this town.
On this sidewalk.
Holding me.
I wrap my arms around Nick’s neck. His kiss is deep, his lips warm. He tastes like mint. His arms around me are so strong, and make me feel safe. When his lips move against mine and I realize that I don’t have to ever hold back again with him, I get lost in a wave of bliss.
As we part, I’m only barely aware of the claps and cheers rising up from under the diner’s awning.
“I think we have an audience,” Nick whispers in my ear.
I keep my arms around his neck. “We’ve been the talk of this town ever since my sister dragged me to the ER to get that checkup. At least we made all their gossiping worth it. Roxie’s going to freak.”
“That’ll be nothing, compared to my mother,” Nick says. “She’s already cyberstalked you, according to my dad. And she’s going to ask you a million questions, now that she’s seen us kiss.”
“She saw us?”
He nods. “She and my father are over there with your family.”
I consider looking that way, because it’ll be fun to see my family’s happy reaction. This is what they wanted for me, and I know they’re all thrilled, right about now.
They were all on Team Nick, and they love to celebrate wins.
But, instead of looking toward our audience, I keep my gaze pinned on Nick. His chiseled features are wet with raindrops. His blue eyes spark behind the obsidian frames I’ve always loved. His lips, full and perfect, tilt up at the side as he flashes a quick smile.
“I missed you,” he says. “For years and years and years. My dad was right. Even though you weren’t around, on some level, I never stopped thinking about you.”
“Same,” I tell him.
That one, simple word, is the most honest thing I’ve said in ages.
I missed Nick.
I didn’t just miss my friendship with him, either. I missed everything about him, including the way the whole world stopped when he kissed me that night, so long ago.
For so long, I put that out of mind.
But all that time, Iknew. I knew what it was like to be that loved, and what it was like to give that kind of love. I never feltit with anyone else—certainly not with Sylvester. It was special, and rare, and I tried to get used to the fact that it wouldn’t happen for me again.
