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Skylar threw her head back laughing. “Harlow? Straight? No. She’s gay.”
Riley felt her mouth hang agape. Harlow was gay? This changed everything.
“You’ve been living with her for a month and never asked if she were gay?”
“I’m from Moonflower Cove. I assume everyone is gay until proven straight.”
After laughing and chatting with Skylar for a few more minutes, Riley mustered up the courage to march across the parking lot to her bus and walk inside. She found Harlow sitting at the table reading a book, and she jumped when Riley slammed the door behind her.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
“You got a minute?”
“Uh,” Harlow read for a few seconds before sitting her book on the table and turning her attention to Riley, “yeah. What’s up?”
“Are you going home next week?”
Harlow shrugged. “I guess. I have nowhere else to go and I don’t want to stay on the bus alone.”
Riley tried not to focus on the addition of that last word to Harlow’s sentence.
“Well, would you want to go home with me? To Maine?” Riley nervously smiled as she twisted her hands together. “My town is really cool. It’s small, but there’s a lot of cool people that live there. I could show you around town or we could go to the mountains or the ocean or whatever. If you want. You don’t have to if you don’t…”
“I do,” Harlow quickly answered. “That sounds fun, actually.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I mean, it sounds better than sitting home alone by myself. And I haven’t been to Maine before.”
“Well, I’d love for you to join me. I think we would have a lot of fun.”
“I’m sure we will. It will be nice to get away from the tour and bus life for a bit. Maybe we will actually get to know each other a little better.”
Riley lowered her gaze from Harlow as her smile widened. “I’d like that, too.”
“I know I’ve been really focused on work and the tour the last few weeks.” Harlow scratched the back of her neck. “But I just wanted to say that I’m really glad I’ve gotten to know you, even if it’s been in a limited capacity. I don’t make friends easily, so all this is new to me.”
“I get it.” Sliding into the bench seat across from Harlow, Riley placed her hand on Harlow’s arm. “Completely. I’ve been trying to respect your boundaries and give you space. But I hope you know that I’ve really wanted to get to know you.”
Harlow slowly pulled her arm away from Riley’s touch, but Riley didn’t get the vibe it was because she didn’t like the touch. The vibe she got instead seemed to be nervousness on Harlow’s part, and Riley could understand that. She was nervous too. Especially since the simple touch with Harlow had sent electricity shooting through Riley’s veins.
“I got a plane out of Kansas City Monday morning. I was planning on staying until the following Wednesday, then flying out to Detroit, but you can do whatever you want.”
“Actually, that sounds great.” Opening the laptop that was beside her on the table, Harlow scooted over on the bench and motioned for Riley to sit beside her. Which Riley did eagerly. “Show me the flights you booked so I can get the same ones.”
Rile pulled up the flights on her phone as she helped Harlow find them. They were lucky enough to book the middle seat by Riley’s window seat for Harlow on the flights. As Harlow closed the laptop, she turned in her seat to look at Riley. Her eyes were softer than Riley had ever seen them before.
“Thank you for inviting me.”
“Thank you for accepting. I think we will have fun.”
Harlow’s smile could have melted Riley. She would be a snowman in summer in a matter of moments with that smile looking back at her.
“I know we will,” Harlow winked at her.
Suddenly, Riley couldn’t wait for the next two shows to be over so she could spend time with Harlow in the Cove. Skylar was right; the Cove was a magical place. With any luck, that magic might rub off on Riley and Harlow.
