“Yeah, what did happen?” Eliza asked with a pleased smile, crossing her arms over her chest. “Because last we heard you wereveryadamant about there beingnothinggoing on.”
“Oh,” I said with an awkward laugh.That. It was Wednesday, and I hadn’t seen Lily or Eliza since our night at Lake Ridge last Saturday. Our work schedules kept clashing, and I didn’t want to tell them what happened with Wes over text. I had planned to tell them both today but was trying to find the right time. Notime like the present. “Probably because we’re going on a date on Friday?” I offered.
Both Eliza and Lily stared at me with open mouths. And then they started speaking at the same time.
“Oh my god! Tell us everything!”
“A date?!”
“Well, maybe noteverything,” Lily quickly clarified. “There’s some details about my brother’s love life that I never need to hear. But tell us ninety percent of it. What happened?!”
“But, actually, I knew it,” Eliza said. “With the way you two were dancingandhim taking you home. Sparks were flying. And while I didn’t win my bet—because as far as I know he didn’t tell Cooper to stay away from you—I was pretty sure at one point he was shooting daggers at Coop with his eyes.”
I snorted a laugh. “No way. You’re being dramatic.”
“I swear!” Eliza raised her hands.
Lily nodded in agreement.
“I mean, maybe. He did ask if I had a thing for Cooper, which seemed so out of left field.”
Eliza grinned, nodding as if I had proved her point. “See, exactly. Because Cooper was getting under his skin on purpose. And it worked. But back to this date…”
I filled them both in—leaving various details out for Lily’s sake—on what happened at the bar, getting back to Wes’s house, and our morning together. And, of course, how he asked me out on a date.
“I have no idea what we’ll do, but he said he’ll have it all planned,” I said with a shrug.
Lily tipped her head back with a groan, playfully complaining, “This would be even cuter if he wasn’t my brother. When I told him to be nice to you, I didn’t see this coming.” She chewed on her bottom lip, something clearly on her mind. “But what does this mean for after the summer? Are you staying?”
After the summer.I was starting to hate those words.
“Um, well, no, I’m not staying. We haven’t talked about what it means. I think we’re both just focused on the now.”
Lily frowned, but I couldn’t tell which part of my answer she didn’t like. “You’ve both been through a lot. I don’t want either of you to get hurt.”
“I know,” I said quietly. “Do you think I’m making a mistake getting involved with him? Because I?—”
“No, Jules. That’s not at all what I’m getting at, and I would never ask you to stop seeing him on my behalf,” Lily said firmly. “Will you promise me if things don’t work out for whatever reason it won’t impact our friendship? That you’ll still visit?”
I saw the pleading in Lily’s eyes, and I understood her worry. It was all valid, and I appreciated that she was sharing her concerns with me.
“I promise. Of course. I can’t imagine my life without you two.” I looked at Lily and Eliza, getting emotional thinking about how much they had come to mean to me. Leaving Golden Falls at the end of the summer didn’t just mean leaving Wes—it meant leaving Lily, Eliza, Hal…everyone who had come to mean so much to me in a short amount of time.
“Stop it! You two are so mushy! Everything will be fine.” Eliza pulled us both into an embrace, playfully rolling her eyes. “Now,” she said as we pulled back from the hug, “on a scale of one to ten how good was the sex?”
“Eliza!” Lily exclaimed at the same time I said, “Infinity.”
Lily gagged, waving her hand. “Let’s talk about the yoga studio or how cute Maple looks sleeping. Literally anything but my brother’s sex life.”
Eliza and I laughed.
“Okay, fine. Let’s fill you in on what we’re doing with the studio,” I said.
“Thank goodness.” Lily breathed a sigh of relief, pulling her chair closer to the table so she could see the laptop.
“I am curious, though, did he—” Eliza started but was cut off when Lily grabbed a pillow from the couch and tossed it at her.
The three of us burst into laughter again.
