Page 148 of Best Friends for Never

I pull my mouth away, my breaths coming in sharp, and smile down at him.

“Better?” he asks with a cocky smile.

I laugh. “Much.”

He sets me back on my feet but doesn’t let me go, holding me to him still. “Nowcan I ask why your luggage is by the door?”

“For you.”

He lifts his brows. “Me? What do you mean?”

“I was going to LA to find you.”

He tucks his lips together. “You realize that LA is huge and not like Emerald Grove, and you can’t justfindpeople there, right?”

“I know that. I ... I was going to call. It was going to be a surprise. Kind of like this is.” I squint at him. “Whatareyou doing here?”

“You.”

“Noel . . .”

He laughs. “I’m serious. I came back for you. I would have been here three days ago but I had some things I needed to take care of first so I didn’t completely lose everything for walking out.”

“Walking out?” Realization hits me. “Your meeting ... The deal ... You didn’t take it?”

“No, because it doesn’t matter. None of it does. I ... I want you, Peter. You’re what matters.”

“Noel, you can’t ... We can’t ... That’s not how this was supposed to work.”

“Then how was it supposed to work?”

“You were supposed to ask me again.”

He cocks his head to the side. “Ask you what?”

“To go with you. Ask me to go with you again.”

He sighs. “I can’t. I can’t do that, Parker.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s not fair. You love it here. This is your home.”

“It’s yours too.”

“I know.” He nods. “I know that now. I’ve tried to leave it behind and move on, but I can’t. I can’t because ...” He licks his lips, running a hand through his hair. “Fuck, because you’re here, all right? You’re here, and you’re my home, Parker. You always have been.”

“So then ask me.”

“I can’t,” he says again. “I can’t do that. What ifyouwake up one day and realize it’s not whatyouwant? What if you realize you made a mistake? What if you start to resent me? Then what? Will it be me without a home? Will it be me left alone in LA again?” He shakes his head. “I can’t do that. I can’t take you away from this place.”

“And what if I wake up one day and realize I’m the happiest I’ve ever been? That it’sexactlywhat I’ve always wanted? What if I realize it’s the greatest decision I’ve ever made? What if I look at you and fall even more in love? What ifnotgoing with you is the biggest mistake of my life?”

He opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out because he knows I’m right.

“That’s a big risk,” he eventually says.

“Yeah, and it’s worth it.You’reworth it.”

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