Page 97 of You Fall First

“I shared a lot too, Jo. And it was a good thing. Sharing felt good. At least for me.”

She huffs a sad laugh and pushes a stray strand of hair off her face. “No, you’re right,” she says. “But how exactly did we go from talking about stupid Oliver to … all that?”

“No idea,” I hedge. “But I’m kinda glad we did, though.”

“I am too.”

Overhead comes a rustle of leaves. Below us, the crickets keep singing. “Circling back to Oliver …”

“Ugh.” She lets out a groan. “Do we have to?”

“Trust me. I’d be happy to never hear his name again, but right now, he thinks we’re an us.”

“Because you told him we were.”

“Yeah, I did.” I duck my head. “So. How do you want to handle things at the wedding?”

“We could start by trying to avoid him,” she says. “Maybe he’ll be in the kitchen the whole time.”

I take a beat. “And if he’s not?”

“Then I guess you’re my boyfriend.” Her lips curve up, and she bites back a yawn. Her eyes have grown heavy-lidded and drowsy.

“We should get you to bed,” I say, rising from my chair, even as a part of me wants to keep talking. “You’ve got a big day ahead of you.”

“Yes. Bed,” she murmurs, with a slow, sleepy nod.

“Let’s go.” I offer her a hand, and she comes to her feet. Then, before I know what’s happening, she steps into me and wraps her arms around my body. A wave of warmth invades my chest, and I lower my chin to rest on her head. As her ribs expand and contract, I allow myself one long inhale to breathe her in.

I don’t know how long we stay like this, and I don’t care.

I just want to hold her.

When she finally moves away, the blanket still around her shoulders, static sparks in the space between us.

“Well … good night, Noah,” she whispers.

“Night,” I say back.

Then she disappears into the house, and I’m alone on the porch.

Again.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Jo

I hugged Noah Stadler.

Like, I hugged him, hugged him.

For close to a full minute, if I had to give an estimate. Then I spent a sleepless night tossing and turning in his spare room, imagining what he was imagining.

To be clear, throwing my arms around the man wasn’t part of any preconceived plan. My body simply reacted on instinct after he took my hand and lifted me from my chair. And in my defense, I’d just spilled a chunk of my heart out onto that porch, and that made me feel drawn to him in a way I can’t explain. I told Noah stuff I’ve never shared with anybody. Not my sisters or Dex or my mom. Not even Maren. Nobody.

And Noah didn’t seem to mind my personal space intrusion, which, considering I gave him little to no choice in the matter, is a relief. In fact, his arms came around me pretty quick all on their own. Then he pressed his chin against my forehead and froze there. I’m pretty sure he sniffed my hair.

That’s the good news.