Page 60 of Bonfire and Bliss Bookstore

“God, I’ve missed hanging out with you.”

“Me, too,” she says with a smile. “Today has been fun. Thank you.”

“It’s been my pleasure. Truly.”

“So are you going to use any of this in your book?”

Fuck, I’d been so distracted by Penny I’d forgotten that was what this was all for. “Maybe.”

She nibbles on her lip. “Well, I hope today wasn’t a waste.”

As if time with her would ever be a waste. “Shhh, Xuxuzinho. Dance with me for a bit more.”

One song turns into three, and by the time the oven buzzes, we’ve made it through one side of the record. We eat dinner in the kitchen—the view of the storm retreating over the harbor turns the deep navy sky into a deep amethyst, making for quite the beautiful sight.

“I should probably head home soon,” she says as the moon settles in the sky.

“I’ll drive you home, I promise, but maybe we could take a walk first?”

I’m not ready for tonight to end. Not ready to go back to the boundaries we had in place before today. That’s what we should do, though. I absolutely shouldn’t kiss her again. It would be selfish. Utterly gluttonous of me.

“It really is a pretty night,” she says as we step onto the dewy grass. “Today was amazing, Monty. Like something I couldn’t even dream up. Then again, I’m realizing that about a lot of things.”

“Oh yeah. Like what?”

We walk toward the dock, the glittering water of Hope Harbor calling to us. There’s a chill in the air now that it’s officially fall. Soon the trees will turn those beautiful shades of burgundy, burnt orange, and marigold Penny loves so much. But tonight, they’re the deepest of green and shaking in the dark night, a reminder of the recent storm.

She sighs. “Everything. I’m trying to get to know myself more. Figure out what I like—outside of fall and books—”

I glance at her. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Even with sex.” She flushes brilliantly red at the words that slip out of her mouth. “God, why do I keep saying these ridiculous things to you?!”

“It’s just me, remember, your best friend.” I’m dying to know what she wants to say but I don’t push her.

“It’s just…I’ve come to realize I don’t really know what I like in that department. My experience with Dick didn’t exactly turn my world upside down, not like the way they describe it in books.”

“Did you like our kiss?”

“Um, yes,” she says awkwardly. “Why? Was I bad at it? Was it awful for you? I told you we should have stuck to the notes. My notebook has everything in it we should do.”

I grab her arm, stopping her in her tracks. “I read your notes. And the kiss was definitely not bad.”

“Oh.” Her eyes drop to our feet in the wet grass.

“I was thinking…”

Her eyes lift to mine.

“Maybe we should practice it…again.”

“I can grab my notebook.”

I huff out a laugh. “Forget about the notebook, Penny.”

She seems to sag with disappointment. “But it’s not just about the kiss. It’s about the setting, the buildup, the tension.”

I shake my head and reach for her hands, pulling her toward the dock. I don’t stop until we reach the edge—right beside the angry water that thrashes against the weathered wood. The harbor is glowing from the moon above, beautiful and radiant now that the storm has passed.