Page 78 of Next Time We'll Fall

And I pull her into my arms and take a seat on the sand. We lie back, shoulder to shoulder, and look up at the stars in the sky.

“When I’m lying here like this,” she says, “I feel like I’m so small. I feel like the universe is just this gigantic place and I’m just a peon.”

“It makes you feel inconsequential, doesn’t it?”

I look over at her. She nods slightly.

“Yeah. It makes me think,Wow, this world is so wonderful and large, and yet we don’t even know the half ofit,” I say, and she nods.

She turns on her side to look at me, and I turn on my side to look at her. I can’t help but stroke the side of her face. This is how we’re always meant to be. Touching. Communicating. Just being. It’s simple and it’s right. I never want this moment to end.

“I have a confession to make.”

“Oh, yeah?” she asks me, looking at me quizzically.

I can tell from the look on her face that she’s dying to know what I’m about to say.

“See if you can guess.” I’m not sure why, but I suddenly feel incredibly nervous. I feel like she has my heart in her hand and she doesn’t even know it.

“I don’t know. You want to kiss me?”

“I do want to kiss you, but that’s not the confession I want to make.”

“Then what is it?”

“If I’m being honest, I have more than a crush on you, Juniper Meadows.”

“Oh?”

Her eyes widen slightly. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that my crush is more likeI like you, which is more likeI want you, which is more likeI hope this is the first of many dates, and yeah.”

I wait for her reaction to see if she’s going to be horrified, to see if she’s going to laugh, but she just smiles at me.

“Are you not going to say anything?”

“I don’t know what to say. I feel like if I tell youI like you too, you’re going to be like,No, you’re just saying that. Or you’re going to be like,I knew it, and I just want to bask in this moment.”

She grins and touches the side of my face.

“Or are you dying for me to tell you my feelings as well?”

“Would you think I was less of a man if I said that I was?”

“No, I wouldn’t.” She bites down on her lower lip. “This all feels just a little bit surreal though, you know?”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because if my cousins hadn’t come into town, if I hadn’t jumped on the stage, if Jackie hadn’t asked me if I wanted to be on this show, would any of this be happening?”

I stare at her thoughtfully for a moment because I want to be honest.

“I don’t know,” I say. “Here are the things I do know: I’ve always liked you. I think you’re beautiful. I’ve always wanted to have you in my life. I’ve always wanted to take you out, and the thought of you dating or being with someone else absolutely burns me up inside.”

“So, would you be upset if I continued on in the dating show?” she says, eyes wide.

“I don’t know if you want me to be honest or if you want me to lie here.”