“No, of course not,” I insist. “I told him you were wonderful. I told him everything that happened was completely consensual and that I cared about you so much.”
His forehead furrows as he asks in a softer voice, “So why didn’t you call?
“I tried to call you half a dozen times after I got home. But the answering machine always picked up and I was too nervous to leave a message. I know I should have called or emailed or something while I was still at camp, but I…”
I bring a hand to the back of my neck, rubbing at the stress knot forming there. “I was a dumb kid. I kept putting it off, thinking it would be better if I waited until I was home so we could arrange to meet in person, but…I think I was just scared.”
“Of me?”
“No, of course not.”
“Then of what?” He stops in front of a brightly lit store window displaying rows and rows of bowls in a dozen different colors.
I stare at the rainbow as I shake my head. “I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do,” he insists, gently, but firmly.
I sigh, letting my arm fall to my side as I meet his gaze. His confused gaze. Confused, but hopeful, too.
And why would he be hopeful?
Unless…
“I think I…” I trail off, the possibility that Nash might feel the same way I do making my throat so tight it’s hard to get the words out. I take a deep breath and try again. “I was afraid of feeling so much for someone. I had all these dreams of big adventures and faraway places and you…”
“What?” Nash prompts, cupping my face in his hand, the feel of his fingers sliding along my jaw making me shiver.
“It was only a few weeks, when we were kids,” I whisper, fear rising inside of me again. “You’ll think I’m crazy.”
“I already think you’re crazy,” he says. A smile flickers at the edges of his lips, but it vanishes almost immediately. “But maybe I’m crazy, too. You ever think about that?”
He brings his other hand to my face, holding me captive with a gentle intensity that takes my breath away. “Say it, Aria. Please.”
My tongue slips out to wet my lips. “You made me think about what it would be like to have a different kind of adventure. I was starting to feel…” I glance down at his chest to steady myself before meeting his searching gaze again. “I thought we might be something special. The real deal, and that you might be it, you know. The One.” I finish with a shaky laugh, fighting the urge to make a joke.
Yes, it’s scary to put all that out in the open, and I’ve made myself an easy target if Nash is in the mood to take a shot while my guard is down. But I can’t keep running away from the things I feel when I’m with him. Besides, the words are already out. I can’t take them back, and I don’t want to.
I want a second chance, a real second chance.
With Nash.
He’s silent for what feels like forever, his attention shifting from my eyes to my lips and back again, making my pulse race with anxiety until finally he says, “Aria?”
That’s it. Just my name.
“Yes?” I ask.
“I have a crazy idea.”
The huskiness in his voice sends another shiver racing across my skin. “What kind of crazy?” I whisper, my breath coming in shallow gulps as Nash’s mouth moves closer to mine.
If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was about to—
Oh my god, he is. He’s going to kiss me. For real. Our first honest kiss since we were kids.
“The kind of crazy where we give this a real shot,” he says, so close that his chocolate-scented breath warms my lips, making them tingle.
“You and me?” I ask, refusing to acknowledge the giddy surge of excitement building inside of me until I’m certain.
“You and me. And Skeeter, too. I meant what I said. I love her, and…I could love you, too,” he says, his thumb caressing my cheek. “If you’ll let me.”
My breath rushes out fast, so fast it makes the world spin.
“Too much?” he asks, watching me with careful eyes.
I shake my head. “No. Not too much. Not even a little bit and…”
“And?” he says, so close now that less than an inch of space remains between our lips.
“I could love you, too,” I whisper as he closes the distance between us.
My eyes slide shut with a sigh as his lips slant across mine. I wrap my arms around his neck and melt into him, kissing him with all the hope blooming in my heart, moaning in approval as he pulls me into his arms, crushing me against his chest as his tongue slips between my lips.
The kiss is a far cry from the teasing kisses at dinner, a far cry even from the kiss at the fair. This kiss is pure need, pure hunger. It’s all of me, and all of him, with no walls between us and nothing left to hide.