Page 81 of A Better Place

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

James

I wonder if therewill be a day where I’m not blown away by her beauty. I imagine not. And I’m certainly okay with that. Every time I see her, she takes my breath away. We could be in the middle of Times Square, and she would catch my eye. She doesn’t need to do anything but be herself, and she’s beautiful.

“You going to tell me where you’re taking me?” Carly asks, her voice hopeful.

“Nope.”

She scoffs. “Not even a hint? What if I guess? Will you tell me then?”

“I can’t lie to you, so yeah, I would tell you, but no way are you going to guess where we’re going tonight.”

“Hmm. Well, I assume dinner some place awesome. Because it’s you.”

“Obviously. That part’s a given.”

“That part? Like there’s more?”

“Duh. Of course there’s more. I finally got a yes. You think I was just going to take you to dinner, and that was it?”

“Well, I don’t know!”

“There’s more,” I tell her.

“Let’s see. It’s cold, so a hot air balloon ride probably is out.”

“Is that something you want to do?”

“Yeah, actually. It’s on my bucket-list.”

“Really? What else is on it?”

“Don’t distract me.”

“Come on, just a few items.”

“Ugh. First off, I haven’t done much, so the list might seem boring to you.”

“Doubt it. Hit me with it.”

“Snorkeling in the Caribbean.”

“Good one. And for the record — I’ve never done it either.”

Definitely taking note of that one. Carly in a bikini on the beach? Yes, please.

“Yeah? Okay, um. I want to learn to snow ski or snowboard.”

“I’ll teach you.”

I can picture Carly, all bundled up in her snow gear, cheeks pink from the cold. Warming up in a hot tub after a long day on the slopes. I’m loving her list.

“I want to go to Seattle and watch them throw the fish, eat warm doughnuts, and drink Starbucks like it’s supposed to be drank. I want to make the perfect guacamole, learn how to play poker, release one of those floating lanterns, get a tattoo…”

My head whips over, and my eyes widen.

“Really?”

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