“Don’t worry. I’ll help you get them out.” Aiden’s voice grew quieter as they strayed farther away. “That’s Med School 101. The trick is to…”
Frederick met Anne’s eyes and arched one eyebrow. She pursed her lips and shrugged. It was a maybe for her. Well, it was obvious to him. “I’m going to call it.”
“A bit hasty, don’t you think?” Anne dusted off her hands and tucked them into the back pockets of her jeans.
“Give them two more days.” He strolled toward the opposite end of the beach, and Anne fell into step beside him. “And it’ll be a done deal.”
“I know my sister,” she said in a singsongy voice.
“I know Aiden.” He mimicked her tone, making her smile. And of course, he had no choice but to smile back. It only took a second before their surroundings melted away, and his eyes dropped to her sweet, smiling lips.
“What are you guys talking about?” Bethany glanced between him and Anne with a shadow of a frown.
“Uh…” Frederick felt awful he’d forgotten about her.
“We were just making small talk,” Anne blurted, looking discomfited. When Bethany pinched her lips to one side, Anne rushed to add, “Frederick thinks there’s something between Aiden and Tessa.”
“And Anne doesn’t agree. Maybe you can be the deciding vote,” he said, belatedly including Bethany in the conversation. “What do you think?”
“It’s hard to say.” She cocked her head to the side, her frown clearing at last. “She teases him mercilessly, so she doesn’tnotlike him.”
How would Anne treat someone she was interested in? When she was twenty-one, she had been open and honest—vulnerable in a way only the truly brave could be. He, on the other hand, had become a bumbling dingus around her. At the mature age of twenty-nine, he would like to think he’d outgrown his awkward phase.
“Don’t underestimate Tessa,” Anne said with a speaking glance at Bethany. “She could be much more merciless.”
“You’re right. If she really liked him, Tessa would be a lot meaner.” Bethany tapped her chin with her finger. “But I still think she’s interested in him.”
“And interest could turn into something more.” Frederick smiled his approval at Bethany, then nudged Anne with his elbow. “That’s two to one.”
“Fine. You win,” Anne conceded, mischief twinkling in her eyes. “Happy?”
“I, um,” he stammered.
Frederick might not have outgrown his bumbling dingus phase after all.
THEN…
Dear Anne,
I wrote a poem about you that I’m never going to show you.
Donotask me to show it to you. Don’t even think about asking me. Because the answer is no. Absolutely not.
Why did I write it in the first place if I’m not going to show it to you? Because. Just because.
Ugh, fine. Ihadto write it, okay? Sometimes I think about you, and I feel like my heart is going to explode. So I wrote it all down. As a poem.
God, I can’t believe I’m telling you this. These letters are dangerous. I tell you way more than I ever would in person. That was your diabolical plan from the beginning, wasn’t it? To make me talk about myfeelings.
My feelings for you? They’re too… big. It’s overwhelming sometimes. But that just means that I have to become stronger so I can hold you in my heart. I have to become strong enough to love you with everything in me. Strong enough to deserve you.
And yeah. That’s the gist of the poem that we must never speak of. Except the actual poem rhymes.
You’re going to ask me to show it to you, aren’t you? Damn it. I won’t be able to say no if you ask me. Okay, there’s only one way to stop you from reading the poem. I have to burn it. I have to do it right now. I’m serious. By the time you read this letter, there will be no poem. So don’t ask me if I really burned it.
Bye now. I love you, Anne.
Forever yours,
