Page 15 of Say You Will

I shake my head and laugh at the absurdity of it. “Gabriel. It’sme.”

He wiggles his eyebrows. “And you are. . .?”

Henry, mouth set in a firm line, strides into my line of sight, then straight for us, his attention zeroed in on his brother.

My heart catches in my throat.He’s here.

Henry isn’t even looking at me. The fact that Gabriel doesn’t recognize me is embarrassing, but if Henry doesn’t know me, I’ll do my absolute best to sink straight into the floor.

On the other hand, when I last saw Henry, I was an awkward girl with a chronically unflattering haircut, jaw issues too significant for braces to correct on their own, acne, and glasses that slipped down my nose. Gabriel’s lack of recognition is painful, but maybe I’m expecting too muc—

Henry physically shoulders his brother out of the way and leans in to kiss my cheek.

His lips are cool against my skin, and he smells delicious, like warm bergamot and cedar and black tea and . . .jasmine?

Henry straightens to look into my eyes, and my knees go weak.

“Hello, Franki.”

My heart pounds out a staccato rhythm in my ears as I stare back into Henry’s twilight blue eyes. My hand creeps up to cup my cheek.I’m holding his kiss against me like a weirdo.

Flustered, I drop my fingers. “Henry.”

Gabriel laughs. “You’re kidding me.LittleFranki?”

“She’s barely two years younger than you are. Can you not behave as though her adulthood is some shocking discovery?” Henry places a protective arm around my shoulders.

Gabriel lifts his eyebrows. “Okay.”

“Would you like to dance, Franki?” Henry asks.

“Not really. Thanks, though.” The fact that I’m turning down a dance with Henry when this would have once been a Cinderella dream-come-true moment for me is almost tragic in its irony, but I can’t. I’d fall flat on my face at this point. My knees and feet have had it. Maybe he’ll stay and talk, though. We couldfind somewhere to sit quietly. The Henry I knew would have preferred that over dancing any day.

Henry runs a hand through his light brown hair. He’s always despised sitting for haircuts and procrastinates, stretching out the time between them as long as he’s practically able to. He gets thousand-dollar haircuts so it looks good at every stage, even its current mop-like iteration. He adjusts his glasses over his lightly freckled nose, then loosens his bow tie as he appears to contemplate the mysteries of the universe. “Hmm.”

Gabriel looks at Henry, then he skims a clinical gaze over me, as though he’s cataloging my features. He snaps his attention back to his brother, an open-mouthed look of, apparently, astonishment written on his features. “Is this what I think it is?”

Henry glances at his brother. “How would I know what you’re thinking?” he drawls.

Gabriel grins at me. “You don’t happen to speak German and French, do you?”

Henry heaves a long-suffering sigh.

I frown, looking from one to the other in confusion. “Yes.”

Gabriel’s smile grows. “What did you go to college for? I’m not sure I ever heard.”

I shake my head. “I studied history.”

Gabriel claps his brother on the shoulder with a laugh. “You sneaky devil.”

“Go away,” Henry says.

Unfamiliar anticipation builds inside me with a physical wash of electric sensation. I’m hyperaware of every place Henry’s body touches mine. The weight of his arm across my shoulders. The strong, masculine hand as it rests near, but not touching my breast. Henry’s side is pressed against mine for nearly the entire length of my body.

After all this time, his scent is still warm and familiar. Henry has never worn cologne. Instead, he smells like the cedarhangers in his closet and the Earl Grey tea he drinks. That is, aside from one new, and jarring, feminine note. Henry has clearly been close to a woman other than me recently. Very close.

Gabriel runs a hand through his hair. “I’m headed for the bar. I need another drink.” He gives Henry an encouraging nod. “Good luck.”

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