Page 56 of Party Favors
Amanda blinked slowly a few times. “I don’t want us to end tomorrow. I want you to be in my life.”
“I will be. You’re my online bestie, Amanda Ellis.”
Amanda shook her head. “I mean more than besties.”
“Oh.” Wren’s heart started to race. “What?”
“I told my parents I want to work remotely. We could be together. I’d move.” Amanda yawned and snuggled closer, closing her eyes. “Then I could open Myrna’s Closet, and wham, bam, thank you, ma’am. New Year’s resolutions—achievement unlocked.”
“Oh.”
“That all you’re gonna say?” Amanda struggled to open her eyes, but she managed it. There was humor in her expression. Humor and trust.
It was the trust that got to Wren. Amanda trusted her, and Wren wasn’t going to betray that trust by allowing her to do something rash.
“Hey.” Wren rubbed Amanda’s cheekbone with her thumb. “That sounds like … wow. Really awesome. And God knows I’ve had a full-blown crush on you for five years. But—”
“You have?”
“Uh … Yeah. Sorry. Hope that’s okay.”
Amanda’s smile indicated it was.
Wren swallowed the need to kiss that smile and powered on. “But I’m the queen of reckless decisions. Of not thinking things through. Not thinking about consequences. I’ve gotten burned so many times because of that. I couldn’t live with myself if you made a life-changing decision because we had fun over New Year’s.”
Amanda seemed alert now and more than a little annoyed. “So what? You want this to be over? Just a hookup?”
“No!” Wren scrubbed a hand over her face. She was not explaining this well. “Not at all. But I think you should take a step back. Take a breath. Not make any hasty changes because of a bit of good sex.”
“It was more than sex for me.” Amanda’s voice had gone stilted, like after she’d fallen in the pool.
“For me too. And fuck, I hope we can continue to be more than that. I do, Amanda. But still. I’ve always been written off for being out of control and wild. We had an intense night. It’s been an intense few days. I don’t want to let thefun, fun, funpart of me dictate this. You need to think about this, to be sure that I’m … thatthisis what you want.”
The fire in the fireplace flickered, sending a wash of light over Amanda’s face. There was a watchfulness there as if she was puzzling something out.
“It has been an intense night,” Amanda said. “I’m sorry for forcing a define-the-relationship convo on you.”
“No.” Wren cradled Amanda’s face in her hands. “Don’t apologize. I want you to be honest.” She kissed her softly. “I … I care about you so much. Let’s get some sleep.”
Amanda kissed her back, but it felt bittersweet.
Chapter Fourteen
Morning came fast and hard. Amanda’s whole body ached but in a nice way. A way she would latch onto once she was on the airplane and flying away.
Last night’s conversation had not gone according to plan, and they were acting wooden and unnatural with each other as they packed their bags. Something that Wren had said last night kept scratching at Amanda’s brain, but she couldn’t quite grasp it to form a full thought.
After about the third “excuse me” as Wren skirted Amanda to get to her toiletries in the bathroom, Amanda had had enough.
She dragged Wren into the sitting room and pulled her down onto the loveseat.
“We’re okay, aren’t we?” Amanda asked.
“Of course.”
“Kiss me.” It was demanding, but Amanda didn’t care. If Wren was evidently okay putting this on hold so they could cool down after an intense few days, or whatever her reasoning was, Amanda wanted to get in as many kisses as possible.
That crooked smile Amanda loved so much tripped over Wren’s face. She kissed Amanda on the nose. Then the chin. Then finally the lips.
