Page 51 of Best I Never Had

“Whoever invented avocado-flavored dessert should be committed,” I say, disgustingly eyeing the small cup in her hand as she hums with pleasure from her first bites.

“Hey, don’t yuck my yum,” she says, defending her dessert choice. “As if yourcar-mulflavored froyo is better.”

“At least it’s sweet,” I argue. “And don’t yuck your yum? Who talks like that?”

She scoops a small spoonful and points it toward me. “Here.”

I turn my head. “No thanks.”

“Come on, Hayden. You can’t knock it till you try it.”

I give in when Natalia’s brows bounce, her toothy grin, the type where her top teeth and her bottom teeth are equally exposed, urging me to sample a bite. When I pull the spoon between my lips, I taste allthe hints of avocado that shouldn’t be in a dessert, mixed with cream and cold, along with the trace of chocolate drizzled on top.

“That was interesting,” I say, finding the combination of flavors mixing together too conflicting to say that it’s bad.

She then places the same spoon she just fed me with into her own mouth, sucking off the remaining cream coating the smooth surface. “See? It’s good, right?”

My eyes linger on the creases of her lips as she dips back into her cup, scooping another healthy serving. “It’s interesting,” I assure.

We continue our steps, walking in a lazy, comfortable pace with no direction yet having no intention of going our separate ways.

“So Dexter’s renting a car for the wedding, so we don’t have to worry about taking a train or a rideshare. Hopefully there won’t be too much traffic leaving the city,” I say, filling her in on our travel plans.

Natalia nods. “The venue looked really beautiful,” she says a little wistfully. “And the bride and groom look really happy together.”

She looks at me with a sad smile. The kind where her lower lip pokes out a little more than her upper and her jaw muscles tighten, causing those firm lines around her mouth to form like a parenthesis. It suddenly occurs to me that going to a wedding, one with a beautiful venue and a couple that truly loves each other, would only remind her how much she lacks those things. Those dreams were swiped out from underneath her like a rug when her ex-boyfriend dumped her.

“Are you okay?” I ask, thinking that maybe I shouldn’t have asked her to go with me.

She nods, and her smile changes, the corners of her mouth quirking upward as her smile spreads toward her eyes. My smile mirrors hers, and we continue to walk in silence.

Once our dessert cups are empty, we toss them into the nearest trash bin while wiping our hands with the rough napkins it came with. I barelynotice when Natalia’s steps are no longer in line with mine. When I finally do, I look back to see her with her mouth gaping and eyes wide before I walk back to her side.

“Nat, is everything okay?” She doesn’t answer. “Nat?”

“Huh?” She whips her head toward me as if she forgot I was with her.

“What’s wrong?”

She turns her face to look in the direction we’re walking, her eyes focused on a couple walking toward us. They’re happy, smiling, with their hands linked together between them, swinging and gleeful. The man leans down to kiss the woman on the cheek, which she accepts with a contented smile.

“Nothing,” Natalia finally answers, her voice harsh and urgent. “Let’s get out of here.” Her hand, now frigid from the cold air and the dessert we just finished, grips mine as she hurriedly tries to leave our current spot.

Then it finally clicks.

“Is that…” My question trails off, watching as her worried eyes ping-pong back and forth from me to the couple in front of us, all while looking as if she’s hoping the ground will swallow her whole.

It’s her ex-boyfriend, Matteo. It has to be. And the woman he’s holding hands with, looking blissfully happy as one half of an engaged couple. It’s her ex-boyfriendwithhis fiancée.

Oh god, this is bad. I quickly glance at Natalia to see her face is still shock-ridden.

I don’t know what makes me do what I do next. Maybe it’s the fact that if I saw my ex-girlfriend in the arms of another man, I’d be fuming, no matter how much I claim I’m over her. Or maybe it’s to let this ex-boyfriend know that Natalia is over him, no longer spending her nights in tears over the loss of their relationship, regardless of how far from the truth that is.

I pull Natalia to me, lowering my face to her. One arm wraps around her back as my other hand moves to the curve of her jaw, letting the rough pad of my thumb pull gently at her chin. I expect her to swat my hand awayor screech,What the hell are you doing?!but she doesn’t. She doesn’t even bat an eye when I lean in closer, inching toward her in slow, deliberate movements.

And I kiss her.

Her soft, warm lips slowly open up to mine as our teeth graze against each other and our tongues tangle somewhat awkwardly. Like we’re trying to figure out how the other moves. And it doesn’t take long because as soon as we find our rhythm, it feels like a song. One that’ll play in the background of my life forever. And I’ll never grow tired of it. Instead, I’ll build my life around it, weaving my future and my past as I discover what forever feels like.

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