Chapter Thirty-Two
LOGAN
I was an idiot.
What the hell was I thinking? Confessing to Emma that I liked her? And then handing her an envelope containing the name of another guy who was perfect for her?
Moron.
And then, I failed to plead with her not to go on her date with Justin, nor did I even attempt to grill her on where they were going.
Imbecile.
Oh, and then I just walked away, not even giving her a chance to respond to my confession. “Oh, hey, Emma, I really like you. Okay, bye.”
Fool.
Not that I wanted to hear her response, anyway. The girl hated me. And rightfully so.
Jerk.
“Dude, are you okay?”
The sound of Matt’s voice broke me out of my loop of internal self-hatred, and I was thankful for the interruption. Blinking over at him, I said, “Yeah, I’m fine. Why do you ask?”
“Because you keep getting killed,” he replied, pointing to the TV screen. “In the same spot. Because you haven’t moved from it in like two minutes.”
“Oh, right,” I grumbled. With my thumb, I pushed the left stick on the controller to move forward in the game…and immediately got killed again by some punk to my right. “Whatever.” I dropped the controller onto the couch beside me, crossed my arms over my chest, and scowled at the TV screen.
Matt and I had been playing video games in his living room for a couple of hours now. After I left Emma’s house, I went straight to Matt’s, hoping that spending some quality time with my best friend would take my mind off everything.
No such luck.
With a sigh, Matt paused the game and turned to me. “You did the right thing, Logan.”
“I know. But it doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“Hey, you had your chance to tell her how you feel—”
“I did tell her.”
“Yeah, you told her, and then you handed her the name of her soulmate in an envelope. You should have just told her you loved her and then kissed her.”
“Easier said than done,” I mumbled. “Obviously, she doesn’t like me back. If she did, she would have followed me when I left her house. She would have called me by now. She would have done something. She didn’t do anything, and that’s fine, but now I’m freaking out not knowing if she’s still going on her date with Justin tonight.”
“Why don’t you call Justin and ask him?” Matt said with a shrug.
It was a great idea. Why hadn’t I thought of that? Taking my phone out of my pocket, I dialed Justin’s number.
He picked up on the second ring. “Logan, my man, what’s up?”
I tapped my fingers nervously against the arm of the loveseat.
“Hey, Justin,” I said casually. “I heard you’re going out with Emma tonight?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I was, until she called up about an hour ago and cancelled on me.”
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “She did?”
“Yep. Girl sure knows how to bust a guy’s ego. Brutal.”
I couldn’t help but smile. That’s my girl.
Except, she wasn’t.
“Why are you asking?”
“Um…” My voice trailed off as I realized I had no good excuse to be asking Justin about his dating life.
“Ah, I get it,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m stepping on your toes, aren’t I?”
I suppressed a groan. Even Justin knew how I felt about Emma?
“Dude, I thought you two were just friends,” he continued, taking my silence as confirmation. “If I had known you liked her, I never would have asked her out.”
We both knew that was a total lie. Justin didn’t care who liked who, or who was dating who. If he wanted a girl, he did whatever he had to do to get her. I could count on more than two hands how many relationships he’d broken up since Freshman year.
I didn’t know what to say, but that didn’t matter. He wasn’t done yet.
“Well, maybe you’re in luck. She gave me the whole ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ spiel and then said there was someone else.”
A tiny glimmer of hope ignited within me before I realized that someone else wasn’t me.
It was whoever was in that envelope.
“She didn’t happen to say who that someone else was, did she?”
“Sorry, man,” Justin said, not sounding sorry at all. “Are we done talking about my rejection? I’ve got stuff to do.”
I cleared my throat. “Yeah, sorry, I just—”
The line went dead.
I turned off my phone and sighed.
“So? Is their date still on?” Matt asked.
“Nope,” I said, dropping my head back and staring up at the ceiling.
“That’s a good thing, right?”
“Yep.”
“But you don’t seem happy about that.”
“I am,” I assured him. I leaned forward and buried my face in my hands. “But she told him there was someone else.”
“Oh yeah? Maybe she was talking about you.”
I removed my hands to look at him. “She wasn’t. If she had been, she would have called me, or texted me.”
Matt shrugged. “Not necessarily…”
“She knows how I feel about her,” I said. “I laid it all out there for her. If I were that someone else, I would know by now.”
She was probably meeting the guy right now. They were probably at Dream Bean, sipping on iced teas and discussing their favorite Jane Austen books. His was probably Pride and Prejudice, just like hers. Because, you know, they were perfect for each other. They had everything in common. That’s why the stupid algorithm paired them up.
Matt gave me a sympathetic half-smile. “Hey, why don’t we go somewhere and do something?”
I blinked over at him. “Like what?”
“I don’t know. Like go on a road trip or something. Or go see a movie. Or anything, really. Whatever will get your mind off Emma.”
At this point, nothing was going to get my mind off Emma. I couldn’t stop wondering who her Mr. Right might be. I hadn’t lied to her; I really didn’t look to see who he was, but now I was regretting that decision as I racked my brain, trying to think of what guy at our school could possibly be worthy enough to be with her.
I came up blank.
“I don’t know…” I said finally, not convinced I wanted to do anything but go home and sulk.
“How about we go to the beach?” Matt suggested. “Might do you some good. There will be plenty of eye candy in bikinis there to distract you.”
I held back a snort. Who cared about random girls in bikinis? I’d seen Emma in one and there was no way any girl at the beach would compare.
Still, Matt was right. It would probably do me some good to get out and try to clear my head of everything.
“Okay, let’s do it,” I said, jumping up from the couch.
Matt set down his controller and turned off the TV. “Great.” He tossed me his keys. “Go get the AC running and I’ll be out in a sec.”
I nodded as I left the living room and headed for the front door.
The first thing I noticed upon exiting Matt’s house was that Emma’s car was missing from the driveway across the street. Presumably, she had taken it to go meet with her new Number 7. Taking a slow, deep breath, I walked over to Matt’s Jeep, opened the door, turned the vehicle on, and cranked up the AC as requested. Since it felt like a sauna in there, I chose to shut the door and wait outside of it.
Where is Emma? I couldn’t stop myself from thinking. And who is she with? Why didn’t I look in that envelope? Why didn’t I tell that nerd to give me the guy’s name? I lightly banged the back of my head against the side of the jeep. Stop it, Logan. It’s over. It doesn’t matter now. This is none of your business.
But I had to know. Taking out my phone, I dialed Alex’s number. Surely, he would tell me. He would have told me last night, if I’d wanted him to.
After a few rings, I was brought to his voicemail. Swearing under my breath, I ended the call without leaving a message. Okay. Who else would know this information? Besides Emma, that is.
Chloe and Sophia. Of course! There was no way she wouldn’t have called her best friends and told them about this. Turning my phone back on, I scrolled through my contacts, hoping to see either of their names in the list. Sure enough, Chloe’s number was in there. I couldn’t remember ever asking for her number in the past, but I had half the school programmed into my phone, and couldn’t remember how I’d gotten their numbers, either.
I tapped on her name and listened in anticipation for her to pick up. I only had to wait two rings.
“Logan?” she greeted me slowly. She sounded confused—and rightfully so. Even though her number was in my phone, this was the first time I’d ever called her.
“Hey, Chloe,” I said casually, as if we were the best of friends who talked on the phone every day. “What’s up?”
“Um…not much…” she replied. I heard her whisper something to someone in the background, but I couldn’t hear what she said. “Why are you calling me?”
No sense beating around the bush. “Have either you or Sophia talked to Emma since yesterday?”
“Maybe. Why?”
My eyes flickered over to Matt, who had just walked out the front door. He glanced at me curiously as I held up a finger to indicate I’d only be a minute.
“Did she tell you I gave her the name of her real Number 7?”
“Maybe. Why?” she repeated.
I pinched the bridge of my nose as I tamped down a sudden, intense feeling of annoyance. “Did she happen to tell you who it was?”
“Maybe. Why?”
“Oh my God, Chloe,” I muttered through clenched teeth. I took a deep breath and held it for a moment before letting it back out. “You’re not going to give me any information, are you?”
There was a long pause on her end. “Honestly, Logan, why should I? You hurt my best friend.”
“I love your best friend,” I blurted out before I could stop myself.
Another pause on her end. “Wait, what?”
Interesting. Did Emma not tell her friends that part? The part where I told her I liked her? Why would she leave that out?
“I’m in love with Emma,” I said, resting my head against the Jeep again and staring up at the blue sky above me.
“Whoa,” Chloe breathed. I heard her whisper something to someone again before saying, “Okay, Logan, I’m putting you on speaker.”
Great, just what I needed. With a sigh, I said, “Hello, Sophia.”
“You’re in love with our girl?” she said in response, cutting right to the chase.
I shut my eyes tightly and nodded. “Yeah, I am.”
“And now you want us to tell you who her real Number 7 is?”
“Yes, I do.” I rolled my eyes at Matt, who was still giving me a quizzical look.
“Logan, we don’t know who it is,” Chloe said.
I pushed off the side of the Jeep. “You just said a minute ago that she did tell you who it was.”
“I lied. Emma called last night and told us you handed her an envelope with the name of her real match in it, but she wouldn’t tell us who it was. I’m not even sure she knew who it was at the time she called us.”
“But she didn’t tell you anything else?”
Like how I’d confessed my feelings for her?
“No,” Chloe replied. “Why? Is there more to the story?”
“Apparently not,” I mumbled. “Thanks anyway, guys. Sorry to bother you.”
“Logan—” Sophia began, but I hung up before she could continue.
“Dude.” Matt stalked over to me and snatched my phone out of my hand.
“Hey,” I protested, “what the hell?”
“I’m confiscating your phone for the rest of the day,” he said, placing it in his pocket. He knew there was no way I’d reach in there to grab it back.
“Why?”
“Because if I don’t, you’re either just going to check it every three seconds to see if Emma has texted you, or you’re going to call every single one of your contacts and ask them if they know who Emma’s mystery man is. Neither one is healthy and neither one is going to get your mind off Emma.”
He was right. “Okay, fine,” I grumbled as I made my way to the passenger side of the Jeep.
“Oh, by the way, there’s a party at Jackson’s house later. We should go.”
I groaned. Jackson—the jerk who pushed me and Emma into the lake at Justin’s party. Why were there so many parties going on around town lately? Didn’t these kids have anything better to do with their time? Like, couldn’t they just read a book or something?
Oh, God. Emma had ruined me. I was now thinking that reading was a preferable activity to partying.
“That’s fine,” I found myself saying, even though the idea of attending yet another party was about as appealing as…well, the idea of reading a book.
“You’ll get through this,” Matt said as he opened the door and got into the vehicle. “There are plenty of other fish in the sea.”
“Yeah,” I agreed glumly as I climbed into the passenger seat.
Sure, there were a lot of other girls in the world. In our town, even. The problem was, though, I didn’t want any of them. I wanted Emma.
She just didn’t want me.
***
“Oh, man, you have got to try the punch.” Matt held out a red plastic cup for me to take, but I politely pushed his hand away from me. An hour into the party, he was already buzzed, and now he was quickly working his way toward wasted.
Matt and I ended up having quite the Bro’s Day Out. After spending a couple of hours at the beach, we went to Rodeo Roy’s for a bite to eat. After that, we went bowling, went to see a movie, and now we were at Jackson Rowe’s party. While it was great to spend the time with my best friend, who I’d barely seen since school let out, I was both mentally and physically exhausted from our day together.
“No thanks,” I said. “I’m apparently the designated driver now.”
Matt laughed. “Whoops, sorry about that. I wasn’t thinking.”
“It’s okay.” It really was. When it came to drinking, I could take it or leave it. I was often a casual drinker at parties. I never got drunk because I didn’t like to let my guard down around Grace. I didn’t trust her. Besides, she did like getting drunk at parties, so I was already used to being the designated driver.
I glanced down at my watch. It was a little after eleven. If Matt had it his way, we’d still be here for another two hours at least, and that thought made me want to go bang my head against the nearest wall.
“Hey, you thinking of leaving soon?” I asked him as he took a swig from the cup he’d just offered to me.
He shook his head. “We just got here.”
“Yeah, like two hours ago.”
“What’s the rush?” He finished off the rest of the punch and tossed the empty cup onto the floor with all the others.
I ran a hand through my hair. “I’m just not feeling it.”
He studied me for a second before saying, “Man, you’ve really got it bad, don’t you?”
I nodded. He was referring to Emma, of course. “You’ve done a great job trying to distract me, but nothing’s working. I just keep picturing her out with whoever was in that envelope and it’s driving me crazy. What if he’s not a nice guy? Like, sure, they have stuff in common, but what if he’s also a creep? What if he tries putting the moves on her and won’t take no for an answer. What if—”
“Logan.” Matt put his hand out to stop me from talking. “Stop freaking out about this. Emma is a big girl, she can take care of herself. Besides, I’m sure the guy is nothing but a perfect gentleman, who will treat her with nothing but the utmost respect. She probably had the time of her life with him today…”
His voice trailed off as he saw the expression on my face, which I’m sure mimicked that of a kicked puppy.
“I want to go home,” I muttered.
Matt gave me a sympathetic half-smile. “I was kind of planning on staying a couple more hours, but here—” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. “Why don’t you take my Jeep? I’ll hitch a ride home with someone else.”
I glanced around the room and had a hard time finding somebody I would deem sober enough to get behind the wheel. “How about this? I’ll come back for you later. Just text me when you’re ready to leave.”
“That works,” Matt said with a grin. “Oh, yeah, before I forget.” He reached back into his pocket and pulled out my phone.
“Thanks,” I said, taking it from him. “Have fun.”
“Oh, I will,” he said. He averted his gaze to a redhead who was standing on the other side of the living room, smiling seductively over at him. I vaguely recognized her as a sophomore who went to our school. A cheerleader, I think.
I briefly admired his ability to move on so fast from one girl to another, but then I remembered he was never in love with Emma. He just thought it would be fun to date her, nothing more. He had nothing to move on from. His heart wasn’t broken like mine was.
I gave him a slap on the back before saying goodbye and making my way through the crowd, toward the front door.
After climbing into the Jeep, I decided to take the long way home. I always loved driving at night in the summertime. Windows down, radio blasting. I figured tonight would be a good night to just go for a drive, to clear my head. So, that’s exactly what I did. I drove all over town. Past Funland Park. Past Lover’s Lookout. Past the art museum. Past everywhere I’d spent any time with Emma this summer. And once I realized that’s what I was doing, I immediately drove home.
I pulled up to my house at around quarter to midnight. I was pleased to note that not only was Emma’s car parked safely in her driveway, but all the lights were off in her house.
She was probably fast asleep in her bed, already dreaming about her new boyfriend.
Scowling at the thought, I got out of the vehicle and locked it before heading inside the house.
As soon as I stepped into the foyer, I pulled out my phone to make sure the volume was turned up all the way. I didn’t want to risk not getting Matt’s text or call when he was ready to leave the party.
When the screen lit up, I froze immediately. I had received a text. Two hours ago.
From Emma.
Emma: Midnight. Meet me under the stars.
My heart began to pound against my ribcage. What was this cryptic message? Did she want to talk to me about something? And if so, what? Did she want to thank me in person for handing her soulmate to her?
I glanced at the time on my phone. It wasn’t midnight yet, so that was good at least. But what if she had been expecting me to respond during the last two hours? And because I hadn’t, due to the fact Matt had my phone, what if she had decided not to meet with me after all?
And where were we supposed to meet, anyway? Under the stars could have literally meant anywhere on the planet.
Except…
There was one particular place she could be referring to…
The place where we fell asleep together. Under the stars.
The abandoned lot at the end of our street.
I quickly ran back out of the house. For a moment, I contemplated taking my car to get there faster, but I didn’t want to wake the neighborhood with the roaring of my Mustang. Besides, I didn’t have to go very far.
So, I kept running. I ran as fast as I could toward the end of the street, being careful not to trip over any rocks or twigs along the way. Seeing as though there were no streetlights to help light my path, I was practically running blind. But I didn’t care. I needed to get there, and I needed to get there fast.
I made it there in less than a minute, which meant I had about nine minutes left to spare. I stopped at the end of the driveway to catch my breath and calm my nerves. Please be the right spot...
Turning on my phone’s flash, I slowly began my trek up the long driveway. When I got to the end of it a few seconds later, I knew immediately I was in the right place.
Emma was sitting cross-legged on a blanket in the middle of the empty lot. In her lap was an open book, and in one of her hands was a flashlight, shining down on the pages. I couldn’t help but smile at how adorable she looked. I almost didn’t want to disturb her.
Clearing my throat, I said, “I take it I’m in the right place?”
She jumped slightly at the sound of my voice as she pointed the flashlight at me. “You’re early,” she said, pushing herself up from the ground. “I wasn’t sure you were going to make it. I never heard anything back from you.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. Matt had my phone all day.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Why?”
To keep me from obsessing over you. “It’s a long story,” I said with a smile. I glanced up at the sky. “You’re lucky I knew where to go. There aren’t any stars out tonight.”
She followed my gaze. “I know. When I sent that text, I didn’t realize how cloudy it was.”
We fell into an awkward silence as our eyes met.
“So,” I said slowly. “Why did you want to meet me here?”
She bit her lower lip as she started toward me. She stopped when she was only a few feet away and folded her arms tightly over her chest.
“You’re a jerk,” she said, “and I hate you.”
I inhaled sharply as my heart sank in my chest. This was why she wanted to meet me here? To tell me how much she hated me? What, did her perfect match turn out to be a perfect loser, and now she was blaming me for that, too?
Unbelievable.
I instantly went into defensive mode and crossed my own arms over my chest. “Did you seriously ask me to come here just to tell me things I already knew?”
She narrowed her eyes into a glare. “I’m serious, Logan. You’re the worst. You’re selfish. You’re immature. You’re mean.”
“Okay,” I said, throwing my hands up in the air and backing away from her. “Look, you’re entitled to feel this way about me, and you’re even entitled to tell me all about it, but can this wait for another time? I’m just really not in the mood right now.”
You’ve already destroyed me enough for one day.
She shook her head back and forth. “No, this can’t wait. I need to get this off my chest. I let you speak your mind earlier, and now it’s my turn.”
Something in the tone of her voice made me think I really didn’t want to hear what she had to say. But she was right. It was her turn, whether I liked it or not.
“Fine,” I said, defeated. “Go ahead. Tell me all about why you hate me.”
She seemed somewhat surprised that I would give in so easily, but I wasn’t going to fight it. If she wanted to rip into me about how much I sucked and how much she hated me, I would let her. Maybe it would help me get over her.
If it didn’t kill me first.
She slid off her glasses and set them to rest on the top of her head before continuing. “You know, you told me earlier that I make you want to be a better person. Well, you have the opposite effect on me.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that. “How so?”
“I snuck out of the house again,” she said. “And now I’m also trespassing again. And this time, you didn’t force me into doing either one. I did it all on my own volition. That’s not like me, Logan. You’ve said it yourself in the past: I’m a goody-goody. I follow the rules. But now…I’m breaking the law and my parents’ rules, and I don’t care! In fact, I like the way it feels to go against what I’m supposed to be doing. It makes me feel…”
“Alive?” I finished for her.
Her eyes locked onto mine. “Yes. Alive.”
I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. “Okay, I fail to see what’s so wrong about that.”
“Of course, you don’t,” she said, averting her gaze to the ground. “Logan, I’ve spent my entire life living in a shell, and I like it there. My shell has protected me from everything. It’s safe. But somehow, you’ve managed to crack that shell, and now I feel so exposed, and it scares me. And I hate you for that.”
I swallowed hard as a feeling of guilt started to form in the pit of my stomach. “Emma, I’m sorry. That was never my intention.”
She poked at the ground with her sneaker before returning her gaze to mine. “Wasn’t it? You were trying to change me so that Matt would be interested in me.”
“I know, and that was stupid. I get that now.” I paused and took a step closer to her. “You of all people shouldn’t have to change yourself to get a guy to like you, Emma, because…you’re perfect.”
Despite the darkness that surrounded us, I could see tears welling up in her eyes, and I feared I had said something wrong.
With a sniffle, she reached into her back pocket and pulled out a piece of paper folded in half.
No, not a piece of paper. An envelope. The one I’d given her earlier.
“You said in the beginning of all this that you thought the compatibility test was stupid. Why did you think that?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Computers are smart, but they can’t possibly decide who truly belongs together. It’s all based on an algorithm that just compares answers. Just because two people have a lot in common doesn’t mean they’re meant to be together. It’s why a lot of the matches haven’t worked out. Not everything is as black and white as a computer sees it.”
“I actually agree,” she said, holding out the envelope for me to take. “Here.”
I eyed it curiously as I reached out to grab it. “What is this?” I examined it as soon as it was in my hands, and my breath caught in my throat. “You haven’t opened it.”
She hasn’t opened it…
Her bottom lip quivered slightly as she shook her head. “No, I haven’t.”
All day long, I’d been obsessing over who this guy might be, wondering if she was out on a date with him, and she still didn’t know whose name was in there.
But why not? And why was she giving it back to me?
“I don’t understand…” I stared down at it in disbelief.
“I don’t want it,” she said, her voice shaky. “There’s only one name I want to be in that envelope and you had Alex remove it from the database.”
My jaw dropped slightly at what she was implying.
She was talking about me.
“But,” I said numbly, “you just told me you hate me.”
“I do,” she said, nodding emphatically. “I hate you because somehow…you made me like you.” She bit her lip. “I like you, Logan. I don’t want to, but I do. You may be selfish, immature, and mean, but you’re also funny, sweet, and caring, and—”
“Emma,” I interrupted, but she kept going like she hadn’t even heard me.
“And we have nothing in common, so this makes no sense at all—”
“Emma.”
“But I can’t stop thinking about you, and I—”
I didn’t bother to say her name again. At this point, there was only one way to get her to stop talking.
I leaned forward and kissed her. It was quick. It was simple.
It was everything.
Not knowing if this was what she wanted, I pulled away almost immediately, giving her a quizzical look.
Her widened eyes searched my face before finally settling on my mouth. “Logan,” she breathed…before throwing her arms around the back of my neck and pressing her lips against mine.
Yes. Instantly, my own arms shot out and wrapped around her waist, lifting her up off the ground slightly as I pulled her as close to me as I possibly could.
It had only been a couple of days since the last time we’d kissed, but it had been far too long. I realized immediately how much I’d missed the warmth of her lips, the taste of her strawberry lip gloss, the smell of her apple shampoo. I’d missed the way she felt in my embrace—soft, warm, perfect.
I didn’t want to ever let her go.
She whimpered slightly as I deepened the kiss and I almost lost it. Why had I wasted my entire life making this girl miserable when I could have been doing this all along instead?
That thought alone was enough to make me hate myself.
I’m not sure how long we stood there in our embrace, but by the time we parted, neither of us could breathe.
I rested my forehead against hers while I struggled to regain my composure. My heart was beating a mile a minute, threatening to burst through my ribcage. This was worse than what I’d experienced after our first kiss. Maybe it was because this time, it wasn’t practice. This time, it was real.
In an attempt to calm myself down, I did what I do best: I decided to make light of the situation.
“I knew it,” I murmured, my lips forming a smirk.
She pulled away slightly, giving me a curious look. “You knew what?”
“I knew you were in love with me,” I said.
Emma rolled her eyes. “You did not.”
“I did.” I flashed her a cocky grin. “You’ve always been in love with me, haven’t you?”
She snorted. “Hardly.”
“Admit it, Dawson. I saw the way you were looking at me in all those pictures in my mom’s scrapbook.”
“I was crying in most of those pictures!” she exclaimed.
“Yeah, crying because your love for me was unrequited.”
She pushed on my shoulders to try escaping my grasp, but I held on tightly. Quickly realizing her attempt was futile, she gave up the fight and went limp in my arms.
“Maybe it was you who was always in love with me,” she said with a smile.
“Maybe it was.” I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as her smile faltered slightly. “Emma, I’m sorry I lied on that compatibility test, but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. And maybe that makes me selfish, but I don’t care.”
Her face fell, and I knew right away I’d said the wrong thing.
Because it was selfish of me.
Classic Logan. Selfish to the core.
Glancing down, Emma grabbed the envelope I’d forgotten was still in my hand and took it back.
No…don’t change your mind. Not now. Not after that kiss…
“I don’t care, either,” she said. She held up the envelope and ripped it in half. Then ripped it into thirds. Fourths. Fifths. She kept ripping until it was nothing but a handful of confetti, which she let fall freely to the ground.
“Wow, I really have done a number on you, haven’t I?” I asked. “The Emma I knew two weeks ago would have never littered.”
With wide eyes, she glanced down at the mess, then back at me.
“But she’s not completely gone, is she?” I asked with a grin.
“No, she’s not.” She returned the grin before kneeling onto the ground to pick up all the pieces.
I knelt beside her to help. “Good, because I like her most of all.”
The blanket of night hid the blush on her cheeks I figured was probably there. But that was okay. I’d have plenty of opportunities in the future to make her blush.
And I’d make sure to take advantage of every single one.
“Now you’ll never know who Number 7 is,” I said, grabbing a handful of shredded paper pieces off the grass.
Emma turned her head and eyed me suspiciously. “You didn’t put your own name in the envelope, did you?”
Man, I wish I had thought to do that. It would have been pretty funny. Although, I’m sure Emma wouldn’t have thought so if she’d opened the envelope, hoping to find her true match, only to see my name in there instead.
“That would have been a brilliant idea,” I said with a smirk, “but no. I didn’t put my own name in there. I swear.”
I couldn’t tell if she believed me or not, but she didn’t press the issue. Instead, after picking up the last piece, she placed a hand along the side of my face and leaned forward to kiss me lightly on the lips.
My heart fluttered inside my chest.
“I can’t wait to tell all my book friends about this,” she joked, a small, playful smile tugging at her lips.
I snorted. “Oh my God, Dawson, you are such a dork.”
She made a face and gave my shoulder a gentle punch. “You love it, though.”
She was right. I did.
More than she could ever know.