That caught Fallon’s attention. “What notes?”
I pressed my hand to my stomach, realizing my slip. I didn’t really want to tell my friends about the notes, but at least it would switch the subject from weddings and love, so I caught them up on what had happened.
“This is serious, Maise,” Fallon said. “What did Delilah have to say for herself when Josh talked to her?”
I frowned. “I don’t know. We haven’t heard from him today.”
Fallon’s brows raised, and she smirked. “How upset was Josh when he found out you’re getting married to Beckett?”
“What do you mean?” I asked, and my friend rolled her eyes.
“You know he’s had a crush on you for most of our lives. Since you moved back to Rivers, he’s been pining away, hoping you’d finally say yes to a date.”
I waved a dismissive hand at her. “I mean, sure, in high school, Josh asked me out, but that was just because we were friends. It wouldn’t have been a date-date. Truth is, it would have been smarter for me to go to homecoming with him rather than Carter ‘The Jerkwad’ Smythe. But that was years ago. Josh doesn’t like me that way. I’ve been home for three years, and he hasn’t asked me out.”
But an inkling of doubt winged in. Had I been so busy avoiding whatever this was with Beckett that I hadn’t even noticed Josh wasinterested in more than friendship? If I continued down this pretend path with Beckett, if we convinced the town we were actually engaged, and then we ended the fake relationship, would that somehow make me a pariah in the Swift Rivers dating world? Would I lose not only Beckett but also any chance of a happily ever after?
“It would have been hard for him to ask you out with Beckett always hovering around you,” Andie said.
Surprise shifted through me. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, look at Sweeney. That guy has made no bones about being attracted to you, and Beckett shuts it down every single time.”
“Sweeney?” I squeaked.
“I told you,” Fallon said, exchanging a look with Andie. “Maisey is completely in the dark when it comes to guys liking her. She has no clue how beautiful she is. How beautiful she’salwaysbeen, regardless of the issues she had with her jaw.”
A flush crept over me again. I needed to change the subject again—fast.
As if he’d heard my silent call for help, the front door opened, and Beckett strode in, halting the conversation and causing my heart to leap at the sight of him.
Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was Andie’s words about the town doubting our relationship, but I found myself rushing over to him on unsteady feet. Before I’d really thought it through, I’d looped my arms behind his neck and pressed my lips to his.
For two seconds, I felt his hesitation before his arms surrounded me, one hand settling on my lower back and pushing me into him so we were perfectly aligned. My lips tingled, my body flamed, and I knew I’d made a mistake, but I didn’t care.
For two seconds, he was mine, and I was his, and the entire town of Swift Rivers was wrong. When we were tucked together like this, we were far more than friends. We were one heart, one soul, rejoining after being separated for far too long.
We were the forever after I’d always wanted us to be.
Chapter Nineteen
Beckett
I WANT TO BE THE ONE
Performed by Lonestar
SIX YEARS AGO
HIM: Tell me why someone saying, “I’m not looking for anything serious,” seems like a challenge.
HER: Tell me why people say, “I really like you,” when they really mean, “I want to fuck your brains out and then slink away before the sun rises.”
HIM: Any guy who walks away from you is an idiot.
HER: And those words are what give the ladies hope you’ll actually come around to wanting something more.
HIM: But not you?