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“Come on,” he prompts. “Talk to me.”
“I guess I’m upset because I don’t want to tell my mom I made a new friend in Hawaii.”
He chuckles. “Oh… okay. I get it. You are mad at me. Hey, we had our first fight.”
“It’s not a fight,” I grumble. Then I inch up onto my elbows. The towel rumples under my weight. I push the hat up farther to see him and the strip of brilliant blue ocean behind him. “I’d like you to know that you haven’t just been a friend to me.”
“Maybe you didn’t let me finish.”
“Hm?”
He gives me one of his gorgeous smiles.
Oof.
Him, smiling at me, with that poster-worthy beach backdrop behind him…? The image is now blazed in my memory.
I just hope I don’t revisit it in the future while pining over what could have been.
“I was going to finish, but you pulled your hat over your face.” He tugs the brim of my hat playfully. “So, you want to hear the rest?”
Hope sparkles in my chest. He wouldn’t look at me like this if he had bad news to give. “Sure.”
“Tell your mom that you met me in Hawaii. That you’ve worked with me for a long time, and you couldn’t stand me.”
It’s instinctive, the urge to politely refute that statement. “I never said that.”
He chuckles. “Didn’t have to. I picked up on it. I even felt the same about you sometimes cause I didn’t really know anything about you. That’s what made it so great, getting to know you. It was a surprise. I’ve always liked surprises.”
His hand drifts over my shoulder, down my arm. He rests his palm over my hand, which lies between us now.
“Tell her that we had a lot of fun together. So, when I asked you to be my girl, you said yes.”
One side of my mouth lifts in a half-smile. “Your girl? What are we, sixteen?”
The ground’s now spinning.
Even though it sounds so silly and trite, that phrase also pulls my heartstrings. I want to be his girl.
His half-smile mirrors mine. “You make me feel like a goofy teen. ‘Kay, Haze, how’s this? I think we should try dating. Is that more mature sounding for ya? The long-distance thing. See how it goes, you know?”
“Jack, really…?”
“I think we should give this a shot.”
“But—” I swallow, then lick my lips. Right now, all the thoughts I’ve kept at bay are flooding me.
Thoughts about a long-distance relationship. Good morning calls and good night video chats. Reunions in airports. Holidays together. Then, one day…
Maybe more.
One of us relocating, so we could be closer…
And at the same time, opposing thoughts crash in. In mere days, I’ll discuss that promotion with the Buzzy Digital Marketing CEO. I might step into Devina’s shoes. I’ll be the one marking task items on the work dashboard with pesky red flags.
“You’re saying try the long-distance thing,” I repeat slowly as his words—and all that comes with them—sink in.
My hopes.
