Page 135 of The Lost Book of First Loves

“I was jealous, plain and simple. I wanted to be the one there with you on all those adventures. The one you laughed with and explored mountain trails with and held hands with on the beach.”

He looked down at their entwined hands. When he reached up, she saw a shadow of nervousness in his expression. “I don’t want to screw up our friendship, Al. That’s one reason I’ve never made any moves. First, I was sure you weren’t interested. And second, you matter to me. More than anyone else ever could.”

“But you wanted to? Make moves, I mean?”

“More than I wanted to breathe, whenever we were together.”

He reached out and grabbed her other hand, but he didn’t pull him to her. Not yet.

“Should I tell you why Giselle and I really broke up? Because she told me in her very French, very dramatic, way that I had no room in my heart for anyone else and I never would because you were taking up all the space.”

“Oh,” she whispered, feeling as if her own heart was about to melt into a mushy pile on the floor.

He smiled. “She was right. It was always you, Ali. From that first day when you were so kind to me in the lunchroom.”

“I wish you had told me. Think of all the time we’ve wasted.”

He pulled her fingers to his mouth and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “I don’t consider it wasted. Maybe we both had to grow up in order to know what we really wanted.”

Finally, at long, long last, he pulled her to him and his mouth found hers.

His kiss was everything. Like coming home, like slipping off her shoes at the end of a long day, like a soft breeze on a sweltering day.

Perfect.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, so happy she wanted to stay right here forever.

“We’re not friends with benefits,” he said on a growl after a long, delicious moment. “Just to be clear. I want more than that. I want it all with you.”

“Good. I wouldn’t accept anything else,” she told him.

She kissed him again, regretting that his great-aunt would eventually be home. She wanted to start on thateverythingright now.

They used to spend hours in his bedroom innocently hanging out and his great-aunt and -uncle had never said anything. How would Sylvia even know if they spent a few not-so-innocent hours down there?

She felt lightheaded with joy, not quite believing this was real. She had no idea how they would make this work, especially when Xander had made a career out of traveling the world, and she had been about to embark on a new career she had worked hard for as soon as she passed the bar.

But he was right. She didn’t have to start lawyering right away. Why couldn’t she take a little time off?

She could work on continuing to grieve her father’s death, could spend time thinking about what she really wanted to do with her life, and could especially be with the man she loved.

Her best friend.

Chapter 46

Beck

He wasn’t going to make it.

Beck looked at the clock on the dashboard of his truck and accelerated as fast as he dared, especially since he was pulling a trailer full of valuable timber.

His eyes felt gritty and sore with every mile. He had been driving since the early hours of the morning after Ali had texted him the night before to ask if he’d had a chance to say goodbye to June yet.

That was the first he knew she was leaving. Well, he had known she was leaving eventually. He just hadn’t known until late the night before that she was leaving today. This morning.

He should have left as soon as Ali had texted him, but he hadn’t slept much the previous two nights and didn’t trust himself hauling a heavy trailer on winding mountain roads unless he caught at least a few hours of sleep.

He had managed one, somehow, before he had packed his bags and taken off.

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