Page 100 of The Charm of You

She peers over my shoulder, which is easy since the shoes she wears brings her to my height. The heels are somehow taller than the ones she normally has on. How is she walking in those things?

When I follow the direction of her gaze, I find her mother. I face Caroline again, and she closes her eyes, her eyelashes fanning softly over her rosy cheeks.

She opens them, and her wistful expression hits me square in the chest. “It’s been a good week.” Caroline closes the little distance I’d left between us. She places both hands on my chest, and I stiffen under her touch as she says, “It’s been a really good week, thanks in large part to you.”

Her eyes travel over my face, then settle on my lips before she leans in.

“What are you doing?” I ask, too aware of the crowd around us. There are teenagers less than five yards away, not to mention our mothers right behind us.

We can’t kiss here, out in the open for everyone to know what’s been going on between us. It would invite too many questions I don’t know how to answer.

“I was going to kiss you.” She drops her hands but doesn’t move away. “But you clearly don’t want me to.”

“I didn’t figure you’d want to.”

“Austin, we’ve done a lot more this week. Why would a little kiss be off-limits?”

“You forget where you are, Princess.” I tilt my head side to side, noticing a few pairs of prying eyes on us already. It doesn’t take much to get these nosy people’s attention. “People around here talk. They talk a lot.”

“I’m aware.” She frowns. “I just didn’t realize them talking about us would be such a bad thing.”

She attempts to skirt around me, but I instinctively grab her arm to stop her. “Are you saying you wouldn’t mind if this whole town knew you’re slumming it with the likes of me?”

Her hurt eyes cut right through me.

“If you didn’t care, you would’ve told Addie by now. You would’ve told anyone.” I drop my hand from her and grind my teeth.

I don’t even know where this is coming from.

It could be because the door to my place is still intact. If Addison Lockhart knew about us, she would’ve torn it off its hinges to get the details by now. She would’ve dissected me and my feelings for Caroline until her—and my—head ached.

Maybe it’s the reality of all this and what it represents. This is where Caroline stood ten years ago, with flowers and a fucking crown on her head.

Only the high school quarterback was in my place back then.

She had giggled and laughed with all her friends, while I had been elbow deep in motor oil at the garage, working my fingers to the bone.

I didn’t exist to her back then, and the insecurities bubble up like buried artifacts in the ocean. I thought I’d squashed all this into a metaphorical box, locked away in the part of my brain that holds the past.

Yet, it’s very much in the present.

“You still think so little of me.” Although I sense a hint of a question, it’s more of a statement. One that’s not true, but she clearly believes it is. With a square of her shoulders and her chin held high, she locks her gaze onto mine and says, “For your information, my mother and Maren both know. I told Maren within five seconds of kissing you the first time. She’s just not much of a gossip, as you know.”

And immediate regret and embarrassment crash into me like oncoming traffic.

I’m about to hold my hands up in surrender. If I could get my hands on a white flag, that would be ideal.

But she continues, her tone sharper than before. “And Addie—well, I’ve tried talking to her, but as you also know, she’s been preoccupied this week. I barely held her attention when I helped her shop for an outfit to wear this weekend. She almost paired a dress with a toddler’s headband, she was so distracted. So, no, Austin. I haven’t told her about us yet, but it’s not because I haven’t wanted to. Hell, I’ll get up on those courthouse steps and shout it to the whole town if it’ll prove to you that I mean it when I say I like you, even though you’re so frustrating and downright stubborn as fuck.”

The low chuckle I release surprises us both. I don’t know where it comes from, nor does it feel like my own.

This woman continues to catch me so off guard in the best ways, including with the fact that she likes me. I can’t grasp such a concept, even after the last few days together.

This week has shown me so much of what I missed back in high school—the float building, friends, and events like this parade.

And I don’t want to miss out on any more.

I’m hell-bent on chasing my long-awaited chance with the homecoming queen.

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