Page 20 of Wish For Me

She folds her arms. “But you should be sorry about not telling me you were Quince Valley royalty.”

“I’m not royalty!”

“Right. Your uncle Eli was the mayor. Your uncle Jude is an ex tennis pro. Another aunt’s a multi-platinum folk singer. And you guys own ‘the Jewel of Quince Valley.’

She’s talking about the Rolling Hills, the resort our family owns that presides over the town. “It really does look like a jewel at this time of the year,” I say, slightly sheepish.

“You could have stayed at any number of places that night, Leif.”

“I wanted to stay with you.”

She blinks, her lips parting slightly, and just like that, heat sparks between us as hot as it did last year.

That is, until she snaps her mouth shut again. She’s genuinely upset about that part. I don’t blame her.

“I didn’t mean to obscure anything,” I say. “I just…I was having such an amazing time with you. And I’m not just talking about the sex.”

Noelle’s cheeks go pink. It’s so fucking becoming it’s hard to look at her. “Do you have to say that word?”

I laugh softly. “What, sex?”

She shifts, looking up. “Yes.”

“You didn’t have a problem talking about it last year.”

She laughs softly. “You’re unbelievable.”

“So are you,” I say under my breath.

“You let me talk forever about the theater,” she says. “Afterward. And my stupid ex- boyfriend.”

“Is there a stupid new boyfriend now?” I ask. It’s a joke, but I hold my breath, waiting for her to answer.

“Does it matter?”

“I guess not.” Except it does matter. I want to be able to think of her the way I want to. Hell, I want to do a hell of a lot more. I have to force myself not to take a step toward her.

“Noelle—” I say, just as she says, “We should get back downstairs.”

She’s right. But the moment we go back down there, she won’t be mine anymore. She’ll be all of theirs. We both will. Which is why I don’t move.

“I don’t regret it, Noelle.”

She meets my eye. “Part of me doesn’t either.”

“Part of you?”

She gifts me a second smile then, and it’s like the sun has suddenly peeked out from behind the clouds. “I had fun. But I will regret until the day I die my dad and your grandfather walking in on us.”

I laugh, feeling a knot unwind in my chest. “Your dad looked like he was in a bad dream.”

Noelle grins. “I think he still wishes it was.”

We both laugh then, and the year between us melts away. Sometime last year I came to the conclusion that though it was incredible, it wasn’t the sex that was my favorite part of being with her. It was being with her. Talking with her in the car, and later in the dark. Her teasing me, me making her laugh. It’s what I carried with me all year.

“Thank God your grandpa doesn’t stick around for book club. It was the only reason I let my mom drag me here.”

I grimace. “Actually…”

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