Page 59 of The Disasters of Dating
I nod. “I know. It’s nice to come up here in the winter.” His brows raise, and I correct myself. “Not here, here. But up this canyon. Sometimes the inversion can get pretty bad in the valley, but the skies are clear up here.” Then I backpedal because I never like for Utah to be seen in a bad light. “I mean, it’s not always bad in the valley. Just sometimes when there’s a long stretch between winter storms.”
He smiles. “Are you on retainer for the Salt Lake Travel Council?”
“No.” I lift my shoulders. “But I love Utah. So I don’t want people to get an unfavorable impression.”
“Would you ever move away from here?” He plays with a piece of leaf that he picked off his shirt.
“Permanently?” I lift a shoulder. “I don’t know.”
He nods. “But you’ll travel, right?”
My eyes widen. “Oh, I would love to travel.” I bite my lip. “Someday, at least.”
“So you work at the airport but never fly anywhere?”
I shrug, but can’t quite meet his eyes. “For right now. There hasn’t been the time or extra money to do that lately. Everything I earn goes toward school.”
“How long until you graduate?” He breaks the leaf apart along the vein lines.
“Two semesters.”
His brows go up. “Oooh. That’s soon. Then what? Start building your newsstand empire?”
I laugh. “I think grad school first.” He’s one of the first people I’ve told about it. Not even my cousins know that I’m applying.
“What schools are you applying to?”
I swallow. “Just the U and maybe BYU.” I glance up at him from beneath my lashes. “I want to stay local.”
He nods but doesn’t ask questions. At least not at first. But then his head tilts to the side. “It’s because of your mom, right?”
How had he guessed that? I nod. “Yeah. It was hard on her when Brody and Sadie moved out. I don’t think I can do that to her.”
“What will you do when you get married? Or do you plan to have her move in with you? Or are you and your husband going to move in with her?”
There was no mocking—or at least not in the first part. Maybe there was a hint of it with the last part. But it was an honest question.
I lift a shoulder. “I don’t know. I’ve never gotten close enough to consider it.”
Something passes over his eyes, but I don’t know what it means. Maybe I just ensured we stay in the permanent friend zone. The thought makes my stomach tie in knots, and I don’t wish to analyze why.
He looks out toward the horizon. “Maybe we should clean up? If we hurry, we can walk around the lake once before we have to head back.”
I grab a few cookies out of the container and shove everything else back into the backpack. “Probably a good idea. I’m sure we still have a few hours before dark, but it’s better that we give ourselves plenty of time.”
I hand him a cookie as we follow the trail around the lake.
“Mmm. These are good. Did you make them?” He looks down at me.
My face warms at his praise. “Yep. I made everything.”
His brows go up. “Gorgeous and can cook? You’re like hitting thegirlfriend lottery.” His eyes widen. “Not that I’m calling you my girlfriend.”
I smile. For somereason, his awkwardness makes me feel more at ease. “It’s okay. I’m a girl, and we’re friends. It fits.”
He smiles back at me as he takes my hand. “Poppy, I think I’m feeling scared.”
I squeeze his hand. “Don’t worry, Keaton. I’ll protect you.”
