Page 94 of Kiss the Girl
“She’s pretty all right,” I said. “I definitely lucked out compared to, say, Paige.”
“Oof.” He clutched at his heart, pretending to stagger.
“Ugh, fine. You seem like you’re an okay brother.”
We fell quiet then and walked that way for another block until we reached the turn to get to my car.
“Thank you again for helping,” he said, as we got closer to the parking spaces behind the store. “There’s no way I could have pulled this off without you, and I know it.”
We stopped beside my driver’s side door.
“Noah?”
“Yeah?”
This was it. The big, fat ask. “Come to Charleston.”
His eyes widened in surprise. “Like a visit? When?”
I fought prickles of embarrassment that he hadn’t caught on to what I meant right away. “No, not like a visit. Like, to live.”
He straightened and went still. “Wait, what?”
It was not the sweep-me-into-his-arms-and-whisper-yes moment I’d imagined. “I mean after the school year. Charleston has a big school system and plenty of smaller suburban ones around it. There’s bound to be a job for you out there.”
“I have a job. Here.” He sounded confused more than anything.
“I know this feels like a one-eighty, but it’s not. Not really. I’ve been thinking about what you said. That we work.”
“We don’t just work, Grace,” he said, his voice soft. “I’ve never had anything like this with someone else, not even my ex-fiancée. Have you?”
“Had something like this with your ex-fiancée? No.”
“Grace.” It was a low warning growl.
“Okay, no. I haven’t. You’ve convinced me that we should take a chance on us. I can see it. Exploring the city, game nights for two until we make more friends, hanging out, going out. Making out,” I said with a grin. He shook his head but smiled. “So come to Charleston. With me.” I smiled up at him, but the edges wobbled because he was still not swooning, still not looking thunderstruck with delight at the spontaneity of the offer. He shoved his hand through his hair. “This doesn’t make sense.”
“What doesn’t? Us?” My stomach clenched, and it wasn’t because of that third hand pie I should have skipped.
“No, we make perfect sense. Our geography doesn’t.”
“You’re right, and you were also right that we shouldn’t let it get in the way. My job isn’t portable. Aerospace only has a few main centers, but you can get a teaching job anywhere. I bet if you Googled right now, you’d find a dozen you’re qualified for down there.”
“Grace…”
His tone was a warning that he was about to say something I didn’t want to hear.
“I know you’re worried about leaving Paige, so don’t. She and Evie should come. I get that they’re a part of your life. I love that about you.” His eyes sharpened and my chest tightened at how close those words were to “I love you,” something I’d never said to a guy before. I hurried past the moment. “There’s a million more opportunities for Paige out there too. More school choices, more housing choices, more daycare choices. And she can find a better-paying job, too.”
“That might all be true, but Evie needs more stability than that.” His voice was quiet.
“She’d still have you and Paige.” My butterflies were gone, leaving behind a jumpy tangle of knots tied from disappointment and rejection because I knew his answer.
I wanted him. And if this had only been about lust, that would be one thing. But I wanted him in all the ways that count even more. I wanted to see him every day, to do boring and ordinary things together but make each other laugh while we did them. I wanted to have him to look forward to at the end of a long day, and I wanted to hear stories about his crazy students or his sometimes crazier colleagues.
“You’re asking me to choose between you and my family.”
“No, I’m not. I’m saying I’ll take all of you. You, Paige, and Evie. Maybe even especially Evie, and you other two can tag along.”
