Page 97 of Empty Net

“That seems to be the consensus, doesn’t it?”

I shrug. “Yeah, but who cares? Are you happy with what we’re doing?”

She hesitates. It’s only for a moment, but it happens.

Finally, she says, “I’m having the best orgasms of my life. How could I not be?”

She smiles, but there’s a wobble to it like she’s hiding something. I want to call her on it, but that’d make me a hypocrite. I’m hiding something, too. Like the fact that I’m not only happy with what we’re doing but want to do it for real. Maybe not the whole engagement part—that’s way too fast—but the relationship part. That’s what I want.

I don’t tell her any of that. I keep it buried deep, not wanting to scare her away. I have a feeling if Lilah were to get even an inkling of indication that what we’re doing is becoming real, she’d run. I don’t want her to run. I want her to stay right here with me.

“Good,” I tell her as she snuggles into me again. “Good.”

We don’t talk much as we reach the end of our ferry ride, the big boat pulling into the terminal nestled against the coast of the small town of Kingston.

“This is so cute,” she says as she looks up the street lined with shops. “How did you find this place?”

“I try to explore as much as I can when we’re not playing. Sometimes, I just drive and see where the road takes me. In this case, I hopped on a ferry and found it.”

“You’re so much braver than me. I don’t even explore that much, and I’ve lived here forever.”

“To be fair, you’ve spent the last ten years working your ass off creating something magical with your best friend. You didn’t exactly have time to explore.”

I hate how surprised she looks at my words, like praise isn’t something she’s used to getting.

“Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?” she asks, still doing it.

I stop, tugging her to me, and she lets out a soft gasp. I place my hand on her cheek, tipping her head back until I’m peering down into the blue eyes I can’t get enough of. I need her to know I mean it, know I see her.

“Like you don’t think you deserve my words. You did something incredible with Auden. Sure, it might have been her company, but you were as much a part of that as she was, Lilah. Don’t let anyone try to steal that from you. Especially not your parents, okay? Don’t let them diminish everything you did, everything you worked for. Auden wouldn’t have been able to sell her company for half of what she did if it weren’t for you, and if you think your bestie doesn’t know that, too, then you’re wrong. You’re a damn incredible woman. I hope you know that.”

She swallows once, twice. “I do now.”

Then she presses up on her tiptoes and lays her lips softly against mine. It’s a quick kiss, a chaste one, yet somehow, it feels like so much more.

“What was that for?” I ask as she pulls away.

She shrugs. “Because I wanted to.”

She tugs on my hand and leads us across the street like she’s the one who knows where we’re going.

Her eyes widen when she spots the crêperie to the right. “Please tell me we can go there after dinner.”

I grin at her excitement. “That was the plan.”

“God, I love you.”

I stumble. I lose my footing on flat ground, nearly taking us both tumbling to the sidewalk as I run right into Lilah. We both knowhowshe meant it, but it feels far too real considering our situation.

I don’t know which one of us recovers first, but we continue walking as if nothing happened. She pretends she didn’t just say those three words, I pretend they didn’t make my heart hammer in my chest, and we both pretend we’re not in way over our heads.

“You were right. That was the best pizza I’ve ever had,” Lilah says, sitting on the ferry with her hand on her stomach. She unzipped her skirt the second we sat down. “And that crepe? The ice cream? I think that might have been my favorite date ever.”

“Better than the nachos?”

“Sorry.” Though she doesn’t sound sorry at all, but I’m okay with that. “Can we please talk about that pesto and garlic chicken pizza again?”

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