Page 108 of Whispers and Wildfire

“I don’t think we can pass that up,” I said.

“Good choice,” Brynn said and took our menus. “I’ll be right back.”

A few minutes later, she brought our first wine and poured—a sparkling white.

I picked up the glass and took a sip. “What was our first date? Do you remember?”

“Homecoming.”

“Was it?” I thought back. “You’re right, it was. I wore that pink and black dress.”

“That was hot.”

I laughed. “I doubt it. But we had fun, didn’t we?”

“The dance was okay.” One corner of his mouth lifted in a grin. “Afterward was better.”

My stomach tingled at the memory. “We parked somewhere and made out in your car, didn’t we?”

His grin grew. “Oh yeah, we did.”

“You know, you were the first boy I ever kissed.”

“Was I really? I thought you went out with Johnny Montgomery freshman year.”

“I did. For about two weeks. And all we did was talk on the phone. He wouldn’t even hold my hand at school.” I took another sip. “Don’t worry, I know I’m not the first girl you kissed.”

“Actually, you are.”

My mouth dropped open, and I set my wineglass down. “I don’t believe that for a second.”

“It’s true.”

“I thought you and Brittany Delaney used to sneak away to make out under the bleachers sophomore year.”

“That was just a rumor. Never happened.”

“Seriously?”

“Okay, I didn’t deny the rumor, because at the time, I wished I would have been able to make out with Brittany Delaney under the bleachers. But no. I never did.”

“Are you telling me making out in your car after homecoming was your actual first kiss?”

“Yeah. You were my first everything.”

I gazed at him for a long moment. It wouldn’t have bothered me to know I hadn’t been his first kiss. But discovering I was? It made my heart want to burst right out of my chest.

“I guess we were each other’s first everything,” I said softly.

“Kinda cool.”

“Yeah. It is.”

Brynn brought a charcuterie board with several types of cheese, olives, salami, fancy crackers, and to my endless delight, several mini pickles. We thanked her and continued sipping our bubbly while we sampled the snacks. Once wewere done with the first glass of wine, she came out with another—a dry white Pino Grigio. I liked it even better than the sparkling white.

“Look, I know this is really personal, and it doesn’t have anything to do with me,” Luke said, “but can I ask what actually happened with your ex?”

I shrugged one shoulder. “Sure. I told you I moved in with him after the abduction. I didn’t feel safe living alone. After that, we realized it would work better financially, in terms of health insurance and everything, if we got married. To be fair, I thought I wanted to marry him anyway. But looking back, I don’t think I would have if I’d given it more time.”

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