Page 35 of Forgetting Rafe Thomas
I pull into the lot and turn off my car before responding. “You are a cheerleader,” I argue. “It was meant to be a cute nickname, but if you hate it, it’ll never grace my lips again.”
With that statement, she glances down. At my lips. Holy cow, Luna is looking at my lips. Suddenly, I don’t know what to do with them, but it seems my DNA does. The stupid grin spreads wide again and Luna’s lips part.
“I’m in trouble,” she whispers. I’m not even sure I hear her right before she bolts from the car and heads toward the front door of my parents’ bakery. I hurry out and lock the car so I can open the door for her. And I don’t know why, maybe pushing my luck, but I offer her my hand.
She stares down at it, then her eyes travel up my arm to settle on my face. I’m not grinning now. I’m freaking out. Panic sets in, and there is no doubt she reads it all over my face. Her features soften and she takes a deep breath.
Luna takes my hand.
And the second we enter Sweet and Salty, I know I can never let her go.
I am abruptly brought back to reality when two familiar hands cover my eyes, and Luna’s floral scent envelops me. Though I’m fully aware of the person who has me in her grip—both literally and metaphorically—I can’t help wondering if we’re different people from who we were back then.
“You okay?” she asks, resting her chin on my shoulder.
I reach up behind me and hug her head while she wraps her arms around me from behind. “I’m good. I was sitting here thinking about the day I asked you out. Do you know that started off as a dare?”
Luna scoffs and comes around to sit in the chair beside me. “I did not, but it doesn’t surprise me. That crowd you hung out with was always trouble.”
I almost spit out the sip of coffee I took while she was talking. “Two of those were my brothers.”
She raises an eyebrow and smirks. “You say that like it changes the intent of that sentence in any way, shape, or form. Case and Novan were brats in high school. We both know that, and Hayden was a pain in the rear.”
“Fair enough, but we all grew on you. And Alex, obviously.” I motion across the water as if it distinguishes that I’m pointing to two people we haven’t seen in a very long time.
Luna exaggerates a sigh. “Fair enough.” She sits forward and blocks the sun from her eyes. “What do you want to do today? I have a lot on my list, but suddenly it all seems so…touristy.”
“Well, there’s nothing wrong with that. We could go into town and see what we can find. I’m sure there are some fun off-the-beaten path things we can do if we ask the locals.”
“Sounds good to me. I’m ready when you are.” She offers me her hand, but this is so much more than a simple gesture. It’s hertrusting me again, letting me lead, just like she did that first date we shared at my parents’ bakery. And I think maybe wearethe same kids in love on the inside, and if there’s growing up to do, we can do that together too.
Chapter Fifteen
Luna
I can’t help it.Ever since Rafe brought up the moment he asked me out, my mind has been wandering over the first date that ensued. And…the first kiss. I knew I was toast the second he looked over at me in his car and called me Pom Poms.
“This house?” Rafe asks, pointing out the window at the farmhouse on the hill just outside of Coldstone Creek.
“Yes. Don’t make fun of me,” I say. This has been the best first date of my life. Granted, I’m only a teenager, but now my mom’s favorite saying holds weight for me. She always says, ‘we don’t date for fun, Luna. We date for marriage.’ I never took her seriously…until now.
Two hours at Sweet and Salty with this boy, and I know I’m never going to want to be apart. He’s just so…different…than I anticipated. He’s not like his brothers. He’s more introverted, introspective, and he makes me feel heard. Seen. Like what I say to him matters.
Which is why we are sitting in the dirt driveway of an abandoned farmhouse.
“I’m not making fun of you. It’s a cool house. I guess I just never noticed it up here all lonely.” He pushes open his car door and steps out. A lot of people like to vandalize it, and I can’t stand it. It was beautiful once upon a time. I know because I’ve researched it and seen pictures of it in its glory days, and I know with some love and work, it could be that beautiful again someday.
“Please don’t throw rocks at it or anything,” I say, rushing toward him to defend the house.
Rafe tilts his head to the side and his brow furrows. “Why would I do that?”
I wave my hand toward the house. “People do it all the time. I don’t like seeing it suffer.”
When I look back at him, he’s stepped closer to me. “Hey,” he whispers, and I realize I’m actually crying over this silly house. What a way to end a first date. Tears and accusations against him for something he didn’t even do. I swipe the tears away and try to compose myself.
“This place really does mean a lot to you, doesn’t it?” he asks. I nod and cross my arms. “I’d never try to ruin something you love, Luna.”
Stupid tears stream over my cheeks again. “Ugh. Sorry. It’s so silly that I’m crying over a run-down house.”
