“Did he tell you he loved you?” Grace asked.
I nodded my head. “On the beach. He told me he’s always loved me and only me.”
Lauren let out a dramatic sigh. “How romantic.”
Maegan shook her head. “Four times. My God.”
My cheeks burned with embarrassment. “Does it always stay this magical, Alex?”
Alex’s eyes lit up. “Believe it or not, it keeps getting better. If you think his touch does crazy things to you now, just wait. The more you’re together and learn each other, the more beautiful it becomes.”
We all sat there for a few moments in silence before Grace jumped up and said, “Okay, well now I feel like I need to go for a run. I’m outta here y’all.”
Alex jumped up and followed Grace out of the room calling out, “What? You said we were going shopping!”
Maegan stood and walked over to me. She leaned down and kissed my forehead. “I’m so happy for you both, I hope you know that.”
I reached for her hand and nodded. “I do, Meg. I love you.”
She smiled weakly. “I love you too, Lib.” Turning, Maegan made her way out of the room. Taylor and Lauren both stood up and walked closer to me. They dropped to their knees and I knew the questions were fixin’ to come.
Lauren bit down on her lip and then asked, “Do you regret sleeping with Zach?”
I nodded my head. “Yes. I knew he wasn’t the one and I used him to try and push Luke from my heart. It doesn’t work like that and my mother even tried to warn me.”
Taylor reached for my hand. “I want so badly to find what you and Alex have.”
I placed my hand over her hand in mine. “Oh, Tay, it will happen, honey. Don’t rush it. Wait for that one guy who’s smile is going to light your whole body on fire.”
“How do you know? I mean, how do you know when it’s love?” Lauren asked.
I glanced back at Lauren. “I don’t know how to describe it. Love seems to take its own sweet time. It doesn’t take a straight path. It twists and turns, but somehow it finds its way to you. You have to learn to listen to your heart, but that’s harder to do than it sounds.”
“There were times when it seemed like you and Luke couldn’t stand each other. How do you go from that to—this?” Lauren asked.
“I don’t know, Lauren. Luke had made me so mad sometimes I wanted to spit in his face and kick him in the balls.” I smiled and shook my head. “But then he’d smile at me—or look at me as if I was his everything, even when he wasn’t trying to look at me like that he did. I guess that’s why I waited for so long.”
Taylor cleared her throat. “I’m going to be patient and wait for him. I’m going to wait for that smile that makes my knees weak and my stomach flutter with excitement.”
“Do, Taylor. I promise you, it will be worth the wait.”
LUKE AND I walked along the beach and talked about everything. We found a spot where there weren’t many people. I turned and saw a huge mansion. “Um, I think this is a private beach, Luke.”
We both looked around. There was no one around us. “Where is everyone? How far did we walk?”
I giggled and shrugged. “I’m not sure. I guess I was too lost in the conversation.”
Luke scrunched up his nose and smiled. My heart dropped. It seems my heart was doing that a lot the last twenty-four hours. I watched as Luke placed the blanket down and then set the basket down. He took my hand and held it while I sat.
Luke opened the basket and took out two bottles of root beer and set them on the blanket. Placing two plastic plates down, Luke smiled. He opened a container and placed a croissant sandwich on each plate.
“It’s chicken salad on a croissant. I know how much you love chicken salad.”
Yep. There went my heart again. Dropping down to my stomach.
Reaching into the basket he took out two brownies and set them on the plates. “Where in the world did you get those?” I asked. Luke looked up at me and gave me the same smile I had been talking to Lauren and Taylor about early.
“Colt made them earlier and I stole them!” Luke said with a laugh.
I picked up the chicken salad sandwich and asked, “The sandwich?”
“I made them. My mom showed me a few years back when I found out they were your favorite.”
Oh wow. Butterflies galore in my stomach.
“That is the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard, Luke,” I whispered as I leaned over and kissed him on the lips.
The moment the chicken salad hit my taste buds I moaned. “Oh God. It’s your mom’s secret recipe!”
Luke nodded his head as he chuckled. “Mom said her recipe was your favorite.” Nodding my head, I agreed.
Luke’s smile dropped as he looked out over the water. “Lib, I wanted to talk to you about something.”
My heart began beating faster. What if he regretted what happened? What if he wanted to take a step back?
“O—okay,” my voice sounded weak and that made me angry.
He glanced back at me and said, “I want to tell you what happened after I left to go to A&M.”
Oh shit.
I had laid in bed and thought about why Luke had brushed me off for hours those first few months. Now I was going to get the answers I had longed for. I wasn’t sure it really mattered anymore.
LIBBY BEGAN CHEWING on her index nail. Her eyes searched my face. It was as if she was debating whether she wanted to hear my reason for hurting her after that kiss. I cleared my throat and smiled weakly.
“Our friendship, Libby, has always meant so much to me. You were my best friend. You still are.”
Libby gave me the sweetest grin.
“Will had said something to me not long after we shared that kiss under the bleachers. I was so confused about my feelings. I knew for a while my feelings for you ran much deeper than our friendship. That kiss brought it all up to the surface.”
Nodding her head, Libby whispered, “Yes, it did.”
“My head started playing games. I started questioning if the kiss was a mistake. I wondered if you had thought the same thing. What if we started dating and it didn’t work—we would lose our friendship and that was the last thing I’d ever want.”
Libby took my hand in hers.
“Once I got to A&M, things were so different. Will’s words kept repeating in my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking of what an ass I was for kissing you and then leaving. That’s when I met Karen. It was only a few days after I got to school.”