Page 117 of Leah

“Good.” I gestured to the coffee machine. “You want some caffeine?”

“Nah, I need to hit the shower.”

“Okay.”

“We’ll head out right after breakfast.”

“Sure.”

“And Leah?”

I glanced at him over my shoulder. “Yeah?”

He stared at me for a beat longer. “Wear another dress.”

Then he was gone, humming another tune under his breath I hadn’t heard before. Whatever was up with Carter today, I hoped it kept going.

I smiled into my mug as his hums turned to lyrics that made my chest constrict.

Love.

He was singing about love.

*

We walked a little further than yesterday, and we went in a different direction. Our silence wasn’t as uncomfortable as yesterday, but the tension? Wow, there was a lot of that, especially when I felt Carter’s eyes on me, trailing my form.

My summer dress, white and strapless, was shorter than the last one I wore. It showed a lot of leg. I caught Carter ogling them, and the hottest part of that was he didn’t try hiding it.

“See something you like?” I cheekily asked, though it took a lot of courage to force those words out.

Carter didn’t skip a beat. “Yeah, Leah, I do.”

Moments like these, where we smiled at each other in that dazed sort of way, we forget the damage we’d inflicted on one another.

We were slowly—very slowly—making progress.

Having barely slept, my stamina was bad today. “I need another break,” I told him.

“We’ve barely been walking an hour.”

“It’s hot, Carter.”

We came to a stop in the tall grass just at the top of a rolling hill. I took a few breaths, feeling parched because I’d forgot the damn water. I wasn’t going to complain about it, Carter would have a field day with that, so I stood still, feeling uncomfortably thirsty.

“You think we’re getting along?” I wondered, trying to get my mind off my thirst.

He smirked at me. “I think we’re getting there, Angel.”

“Why…” I squeezed my dress, feeling nerves. “Why has this felt different to last time?”

He looked thoughtful, taking a moment to answer. “Because we’ve changed.”

“You’re not the hothead from before?” I teased.

“I’m not…” He paused, that smirk gone now. “I’m done pretending.”

My breaths slowed as I studied him, understanding what he meant.

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