Page 128 of Bonfire and Bliss Bookstore

“What are you doing? This isn’t the 1980s! We have phones to communicate with people now.”

I watch as he lifts his shoulders sheepishly. “You weren’t exactly picking up.”

He’s not wrong. I huff as I watch him hold up a finger then bend down to something by his feet. When music breaks through the quiet night, I realize he’s got a boom box with him. He lifts it over his head and then hollers, “Penelope Darling, I owe you an apology.”

“Well, yeah, I know,” I yell back. “But what exactly are you doing now?”

Other than standing on Maple Lane with a boom box over your head.

A few cars drive slowly past, likely trying to figure out the same thing.

“I’m groveling. Pretty sure it happens in most of your books after the hero fucks up. And I really fucked up, Xuxuzinho. I let you down and that’s the last thing I ever wanted to do.”

I nod as I try to temper my emotions. Monty’s right, he did let me down. And now, with him in front of me, acknowledging that, it hits me just how much it hurt. Because he’s telling me what we had was real and that I’m allowed to feel sad about the way he handled everything.

“You deserve to know that you’re everything to me, Penny. Nothing in my life has ever been as perfect as you.”

“I’m not perfect,” I croak.

“To me you are.” He smiles up at me. “For me you are.”

He taps something on the boom box and I start to laugh when I recognize the song “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel.

“Oh my God you didn’t,” I squeal, covering my face. The man is John Cusacking me.

Monty begins singing, pretty terribly I might add, as he holds the boom box over his head. Tears stream down my face and I shake my head as I back up into my apartment. I need to get downstairs, to him, right this minute. But first I take out my phone and snap a picture because I want to savor this: the moment Monty stood beneath my window, between the maple trees, under a starry sky, with a boom box over his head, serenading me.

Groveling.

I snort and then rush down the steps so I don’t miss another second. The store is dark but I know the way by heart. When I unlock the door and finally swing it open, Monty is still standing there, singing along with the lyrics.

I realize I’m only wearing a tank top and sleep shorts when the cool New England air hits me, but there’s no way I’m running back inside for a jacket. When Monty sees me, he sets the boom box down and, with the music still playing, walks toward me.

“I didn’t only pick this song because of the movie,” he says, those green eyes of his holding me hostage. He’s wearing another one of his rock band T-shirts and a pair of jeans and he looks so perfectly delicious. “I lied when I told you I came back because of my writer’s block.”

“What?”

“It’s because I couldn’t get the damn color of your eyes out of my head. Since last spring I’d been racking my brain trying to remember the exact shade. But, Penny, I think that was just my brain making up excuses.”

“I don’t understand.”

Monty steps closer so I can feel the warmth of him, can smell his smoky scent. He reaches for my hands and his thumbs stroke mine.

“You know your father was an incredibly smart man”—he huffs out a laugh—“but I think he got one thing wrong.”

I frown. “Hm?”

“It’s not all up here.” He releases my hand and points to his head. “I’ve been trying so hard to get it right. To think it all through before I promised you anything because I didn’t want to hurt you.” He shrugs. “And, honestly, I didn’t want to get hurt, either.”

“I’d never hurt you,” I whisper.

“What I’m trying to say is, I’m tired of trying to figure out the ending when what I should be focused on is our beginning. Because I don’t want this to end, Penny. So, I’m done thinking. Done plotting.”

Monty smiles at me and I can actually feel the moment when he decides to take that leap, when he trusts in us enough to risk it all.

“The best stories are here, Xuxuzinho.” He pats the spot right against his chest. “And my story begins and ends with you. Because you, Penny Darling, are my heart. You’re the love of my life, my best friend, and I never want to let you down again.”

“What?” I blink, completely flabbergasted.