Page 38 of The Perfect Heart

It was an honest answer because I was so confused, thoughts spinning through my head faster than I could catch up with them. What was I supposed to do? How was I supposed to feel? I felt elated and anxious, excited and ready to run away, confused and surer than I’d been in my life, all of that swirling around until I felt sick to my stomach.

“I think what you are is thinking way too much.”

I met Emily’s eyes, which held a mix of empathy and amusement.

“Am I?” I sat up, pulling my legs to my chest and wrapping my arms around them. “I mean, we have all this history together as best friends, and then nothing for five years, which was completely my fault. And now we’re in this weird place. And what happens if it doesn’t work out? Do I lose him as a friend forever? Will I have to leave?”

My worries tumbled out in a rush, crashing and bumping against each other until Emily’s other eyebrow joined the first.

“Woah, hold on.” Emily held up a hand to stop the stream of words. “Now I know you’re overthinking this. Look, do you have some kind of feelings for Nash?”

She held up her hand again before I could release another flurry of words. “I’m not talking about then, and I’m not talking about the future. Do you feel anything now? Right this second? Before this date?”

I took a deep breath, filling the air fill my lungs as I centered my thoughts around that question, letting the answer settle.

“Yes.”

The reply felt right. Yes, I had feelings for Nash. What they were, what they meant, I didn’t know. But I knew I had those feelings, couldn’t deny them.

I didn’t want to deny them.

“Okay, then, there you go.” Emily pushed herself off the bed and disappeared into her closet, only to reappear a moment later with a black dress that made my breath catch.

“I’ve never worn this one. I saw it and had to have it, but it was so expensive, I’ve been terrified to wear it.”

I let the fabric run through my fingers like water. “Then I can’t wear it.”

“Of course you can.” Emily shoved the dress into my arms. “C’mon. I don’t know exactly what’s been going on with you, but I’m pretty sure you need this date, and you need to feel sexy as fuck.”

It was true, I couldn’t deny it, and I took the dress, slipping it over my head to fall mid-thigh. The neckline plunging into the perfect silhouette, the fabric slinky yet clinging to my curves, simple yet gorgeous, it was perfect. And it would go perfectly with the black heels I already had—the single pair, along with that blue dress and my diamond earrings that I had left from my LA wardrobe. The ones I had traveled here wearing.

Emily’s face appeared over my shoulder in the mirror, her reflection smirking.

“You’re going to knock his socks off.”

I couldn’t help it—I smiled and felt my cheeks grow warm at the compliment and the thought.

“So.” Emily turned me around to face her, pinning me with a look. “Just remember, once upon a time, you were best friends who knew everything about each other. Just take it easy, okay? Relax? Let things happen.”

I wanted to believe her, but I also knew a lot had changed since we’d graduated. “We might have been friends, but the Nash I knew in high school grew up.”

“You’re telling me,” Emily cackled from her bathroom, already digging into her makeup stash for me.

Facing myself in the mirror, I made up my mind: It was time to get to know this adult Nash, even if my heart didn’t know whether to flutter with anxiety or delight.

Chapter 19

Nash

WHEN HALLE OPENED THE door after my knock, I couldn’t breathe.

Every part of me froze, from my mind to my lungs to my feet—the only thing I could do was stare.

She looked incredible—more than incredible. There weren’t any words for how she looked in that black dress that slipped over her every curve, the neckline just plunging enough to give an enticing hint of what was below, the hem falling mid-thigh for the best view of long, shapely legs.

“You didn’t get that dress around here.”

The words tumbled out before I could stop them, and I cringed. How had that been the first thing I said to Halle? Not “you’re stunning,” or “wow,” or “that dress is amazing on you.” But that was what Halle did to me,