Page 30 of Chocolate Cherry Cabin

“It’ll sound bad,” she admitted.

“I don’t mind bad.”

“I know.” It was one of the reasons she liked him—very much against her will, of course. “I just wanted to say thanks.”

“For what?” He turned again, his steps slowing.

“For letting me knock you around with my words.”

He stopped so suddenly she almost walked into the team logo stitched onto the back of his jacket. She halted, standing too close, then stumbled back a step. Louis’s brow was deeply furrowed, as if she’d just told him she was with the space agency and the world was in danger of being hit by a meteor.

“You don’t knock me around.”

“I know. You’re tough. But sometimes I come close, and I hope you know it’s not personal—not really. It never has been.”

“Okay.”

“It’s just that when I’m with you I...” She floundered, unable to explain what she called the Louis Effect. So often when she was with him every frustration and shortcoming came to the surface, in need of release, and so she blasted it all at him like toxic waste.

He freed her to be bold, fully honest with nothing held back. But that came with a cost. She might be free to explore her thoughts and feelings without worrying about reining herself in, but it often meant she didn’t treat him kindly. And she didn’t like that. She didn’t like how badly she reacted, or how she felt like such a poor excuse for a human after her temper had cooled and her common sense returned.

She tried again. “When I’m with you, I’m…”

“When you’re with me, you’re you,” he said simply, breaking into a wide, warm smile.

“But I’m mean. I don’t want to be mean.”

“Then don’t be.”

“It just happens.”

“You haven’t hurt me. I’m okay.” He was watching her steadily. “I know who you are. I can see beyond that.”

She stared at him for a long moment, hoping he was telling her the truth. Because, in a lot of ways, she was her genuine self around him and was able to speak about how she felt—even if those truths might be ugly or unpopular, fueled by her insecurities and fears.

Finally, she nodded, wishing he’d hug her again.

They walked in silence until they reached the outskirts of town.

“Louis?”

“Yeah?”

Hannah sucked in a deep breath, then asked the scariest question she could think of. “Do you want to be my friend?”

* * *

Friend?

This was real life, right? He wasn’t having some twisted stress dream where she said this and then pushed him off a cliff or something, was he?

“Sure,” Louis said, as they continued walking toward Cherry Lane.

Friend.

They stopped on the sidewalk in front of their houses, shifting their weight, unsure what to say.

It was easier being enemies.

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