Page 82 of Bright Lights and Summer Nights

“Nervous about what?” I cup her cheek, trying to tilt her chin up so she’ll look at me. She doesn’t let me; instead, she keeps her face down as she stares at the shower floor.

When she finally meets my eyes, my stomach drops. There’s so much vulnerability in the way she looks at me it makes my breath hitch for a moment. Vulnerable is not something I’m used to her being. She’s always so confident and carefree, but right now, it seems she’s scared—I’m just not sure of what.

“What if I’m too much for you?” Her words come out hurried and timid. She winces at the end of the question as if she regrets even asking it in the first place.

I tip her chin up, letting out a breath of relief when she lets me do it this time. I watch her for a minute, wondering how a woman so perfect can believe she’s too much of anything. “What if you’re perfect for me?” I respond, meaning every word.

Her eyes flutter shut for a moment. She leans into my caress. I love that she takes comfort in my touch. Now, if I can’t feel her skin against mine, things feel off, so it’s reassuring to know she might be feeling the same way.

“It’s just that I’m only here for the summer. And I’m still a mess. What if you?—”

I cut her off by kissing her. I don’t want her to even waste her breath worrying about what could happen. My entire life has revolved around the future, so for once, I want to live in the right now and enjoy the time I have with her. I know eventually, we’ll have to worry about what happens when I inevitably do have to return to Manhattan, and she has to decide what she wants for herself, but those decisions don’t have to be made tonight.

Tonight, I’m going to enjoy knowing that tomorrow doesn’t hold a goodbye for us. For right now, that’s more than enough.

CHAPTER 42

EMMA - TWO MONTHS LATER

MARGO

EMMA!!!

EMMA

Yes?

MARGO

I know you’re an influencer now and post the links to everything you’re wearing on your grand adventure parading around the Hamptons this summer, but I need the best friend hookup and for you to tell me where your dress is from in these photos.

Preston is on the phone with his agent while I wait for the photos from Margo to come through. There have been a few different instances where photos of Preston and me have reached the press in the almost two months we’ve spent together here in the Hamptons.

For the most part, we’ve laid low and stuck to doing things at the club or tried to go places that weren’t busy, but it’s been hard to avoid the media completely. While there’s plenty of speculation that I’m the one seen in photos with Preston, I’ve taken up wearing hats and large sunglasses while I’m out with him.

No one has been able to confirm anything, but the grainy photos the paparazzi have taken, and me still teasing being with a sports guy on my still-growing social media platform, have the world catching on to what Preston and I have going on.

He smiles at me, his phone pressed to his ear. Butterflies still take flight in my stomach every time he graces me with the curve of his lips. We’ve been in our own bubble of happiness and getting to know one another for almost two months now, and every time he aims a smile at me, my heart feels like it skips a beat.

His smiles are easier to earn than they used to be, but his default setting is still his typical grumpy scowl, so I love softening him up every now and then.

My phone vibrates, pulling me away from my thoughts of him. I open up my texts, finding the photo from Margo.

MARGO

This one!!!

In the photo, I’m wearing a lilac-colored halter dress. It’s taken from far away as Preston and I leave a small local seafood place we’re obsessed with. There are only ten tables inside, and the owners have been generous enough to let Preston rent the place out for a couple of hours a few times so that we could dine in private. Preston pays them well for it, and it’s allowed us to continue to avoid the media as much as possible. The moment we’d stepped out of the back exit of the restaurant, you could hear the familiar click of a camera—something I never thought I’d get used to.

EMMA

I got it at one of the local boutiques here. Come visit and we can go shopping!!

MARGO

I’d love to visit but this baby is due any day now and Beck won’t let me out of his sight.

He’s watching me closely right now with his hands braced on the chair like he expects me to make a run for it.

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