Page 144 of Problematic Summer Romance

We’re making up for lost time.

That’s what I tell myself when we can’t seem to carve time or space for anything but each other.

“Let’s go somewhere,” he suggests a few days after coming back, running his fingers through my hair. “Just you and me.”

“Like, where?”

“Anywhere Seb can’t find me.”

I laugh. “To go somewhere, we would have to leave the house. Are you willing to do that?”

No. He isn’t. He acknowledges it later that night. Slow rhythm. Steady breeze blowing the curtains apart through the open balcony door. I’m too boneless to do anything but lie there, feelingthat warm pressure building inside me, so happy, I can see the shape of it on the ceiling.

I love you, I think, closing my arms around his neck. I don’t say it, but he hears it anyway, and smiles against my neck.

The dinner happensabout two weeks after Conor gets back.

He’s not nervous about it. “It won’t change anything,” he reassures me, and I believe it. I’m not worried, either, but I have little tolerance for awkward moments, and I’m grateful when Minami asks, “Should we just…acknowledge it?”

I’m still chewing the first bite of Eli’s risotto. It’s my favorite of his dishes, and he knows it. “Coaxed you here like an ant into a sugar trap,” he whispered at me when I let myself in. “Don’t worry, the Trivial Pursuit is locked away.”

“What is it that we should acknowledge?” Rue asks, looking up from her food, and god bless her for being who she is.

“You know,” Minami says. “The fact that Hark and Maya are currently—”

“There is no need to talk aboutwhatthey are doing in detail,” Eli points out. “Dating. They are dating.”

“As the older brother, did you give your approval?” Minami asks, which has Eli taking a sip of his red wine.

“As the older brother, my approval is unnecessary.”

She grins. “Perfect answer. I raised you so well.”

“You did. Also, I’m scared of Maya. And, to a lesser extent, of Hark.”

Conor sighs. Wisely, he has yet to start eating. Unwisely, he has given up alcohol, which means that he didn’t have the benefit of apredinner glass of wine. “Maya and Iaretogether. Dating. In a relationship. Whatever.”

“Have you proposed yet?” Rue asks.

“I have been exercising restraint.” He glances around the table. “If you have something to say on the matter, feel free to do so now.”

“Or forever hold our peace?” Minami asks.

Conor snorts. “As if you would.”

“I don’t really see what the big deal is,” Minami says. “It’s still muchlessweird than Eli ending up with Florence’s protégé.”

Conor drums his fingers. “At the very least, equally weird.”

“Honestly,” Minami continues with some throat-clearing. “I must admit that I was taken by surprise. I’m sure you’re not embarking into this relationship without being aware of certain aspects that could, um, become problematic.”

I bite the smile off my face. Under the table, I text Nyota.First mention of the word problematic.

Nyota:Was it Minami?

Maya:Yup.

Nyota:Told ya.

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