Page 35 of That Time I Kissed My Brother’s Best Friend
“That’s why we didn’t judge the floats,” Nat says.
“And why we left you to ride in the back of Uncle Cubby’s truck,” Brady adds.
Natalie curtsies to Brady. “We made a great team.”
“Indeed.” Brady bows.
“Man.” Beau blows out a long breath, long enough that it’s clear he wasn’t in on any of this. “You could’ve just told me,” he says.
“What?” Brady splays his hands. “And ruin this good time?”
While they’ve all been talking, the earth has been slowly slipping out from under me. Everything I believed is flipped on its axis now, and I can’t tell who or what I can trust. Especially my heart. I open my mouth, completely unsure about the words that might come out, but my mother beats me to it.
“Speaking of good times,” she exclaims, “How about those snickerdoodles? Should we get the dessert portion of the evening started?”
“Yes!” Mrs. Slater claps her hands. “I’ll break out the ice cream!” My father and Mr. Slater don’t have to be told twice. They make a beeline for the cookies. Natalie and Brady cast glances at each other, then follow them inside. I just stand there frozen. Every move I made tonight was wrong. So where do I go from here?
“Kasey.”
I turn to face Beau, and my stomach is in knots. I dragged a good man into a bad plan. And my knee-jerk reaction would be to blame my brother. But like Natalie said, that was Beforeland. Afterland is on me. “I’m so sorry I got you mixed up in this,” I say softly. “But don’t worry. I’m the one who looks like the idiot. Not you. Not at all.” I force a small smile. “Your golden reputation remains intact.”
“I don’t care about my reputation.” He reaches out to gather my hands in his, and my skin zings at his touch. I’d better get that under control. But control is hard when he smells so good and his mouth’s so soft and—Stop it, Kasey.
In two days, I’m flying back to California, and Beau’s flying off to who knows where. Someplace important. Causes that need him. All those charities he donates his proceeds to … I can’t put a damper on his philanthropic spirit. Beau told me himself he loves his job. And mine is thousands of miles from his. I’ve kept myself distant for so long. I can keep going if it’s the right thing to do. Beau deserves better than to be tethered to me.
“Anyway, I’m sorry.” I swallow hard. “About all of it.”
“Well, I’m not.” Beau meets my gaze and holds it steady, speaking with his eyes. Speaking to my soul. “Kasey.” He draws in a long breath, then exhales. “I have feelings for you.” His voice is hoarse, like he’s been shouting the same words forever, but I never heard him in Beforeland. “I haveallthe feelings for you,” he says. “Every single one of them. I always have.” When he squeezes my hands, all the air leaves my lungs.
“Oh,” I whisper, but it’s barely a sound because right now I’m barely breathing. My brain’s running a slideshow of all the times I buried my own feelings. I drew horns in Sharpie on pictures of Beau when I wanted to writeKEGon his heart.
“I’ve also got something to show you.” He releases one of my hands to dig in his back pocket. “This is what I was planning to give you, that day after graduation.” From behind his back he produces a bracelet, a rope of braided gold, cupped in his palm. It sparkles in a sliver of moonlight and the countless stars above us.
“It’s beautiful.” I gulp, and he looks down as if he’s seeing the thing in his hand for the first time himself.
“I knew you couldn’t wait to get out into the world,” he says. “That once you got a taste of life outside of Abieville, you might be gone for good. Especially after the way Brady and I treated you. So I decided to give you this charm bracelet and ask you to meet me back here every summer. I figured I’d offer you a new charm each year. It was an excuse to keep you coming home. One way I could keep seeing you.” He ducks his head, and my insides ache at the thoughtfulness of his plan. This isn’t some throwaway token from a teenage guy who felt guilty. This gift has soul in it. Beau’s soul.
“There’s only one charm so far,” he says.
I peer down into his hand, and the charm slowly takes shape in the darkness. “Is that … a… cat?” I giggle, from nerves or joy or maybe fear. “That’s… kind of … random.”
Beau chuckles. “Yeah, I didn’t have much game with girls back then. And I wasn’t sure how you’d take the whole charm bracelet idea in the first place. So I thought I’d start out small. And I knew you loved Sprinkles, so.”
I lift my head and smile. “I take it back. This is not random at all. A cat charm is perfect.”
His smile is bashful in the best kind of way. “I was hoping if things went well, I’d get to add a new charm every year. So Sprinkles wouldn’t be lonely. But…”
I scrunch up my nose. “Things didn’t go well.”
My insides begin to unravel, remembering all those years we spent competing. Side by side. We always were together, going after the same things. Beau made sure he was with me, but I never let myself imagine there was a reason beyond him wanting to win. I couldn’t risk thinking he had deeper feelings. I was too busy guarding mine.
He moves an inch closer to me. “We were so young. Maybe things weren’t meant to go well back then. What if the universe planned to give us a second chance all along?” He holds up the bracelet and it dangles in front of me, twisting and free.
I raise my wrist. “Let’s see if it fits. Like Cinderella and her glass slipper. You know. If there’d been a cat hanging off her heel.” Beau reaches out to wrap the chain around it. And as he clicks the clasp shut, my heart begins to swell, filling up with a thousand balloons until there’s no room left for anything else. Except maybe light and happiness, because I’ve got all the feelings too. Just like Beau said. For so many years, I denied it, but I can’t pretend anymore. My whole balloon-filled heart is beating for Beau.
“Looks like it fits,” he says, lifting my hand. Then he gently brushes his lips against my wrist. The move is so tender, I almost melt immediately, right here on the Slaters’ deck. When he places both palms on my cheeks—softly, and with so much care—I stand on my toes to wrap my arms around his neck. And as my fingers tangle in his hair, one of his hands slips to my chin. He tips my face up while he lowers his. Our lips are only a breath apart.
“Kasey,” he whispers.
