Page 81 of (Not So) Famous in Paradise

I uncover my phone, but my gaze stays on Georgia. “I’ll be there in ten.”

Georgia shoots me a disappointed grin and wrinkles her nose. The brake is staying firmly in place for this roller coaster ride. We’re climbing off and taking the stairs down to the exit.

But then, Georgia rises on tiptoe and kisses my cheek. It’s quick, and she’s stepping away before I realize what’s happened. But our fingers are still laced together. With each step she takes, our arms stretch long until only our fingertips touch. We let them drop at the same time.

She takes two unsteady steps, and while I’d like to think she’s weak in the knees because of me, I know her shoes and bum ankle are bothering her. I can’t watch her walk home like that, so I scoop her up again.

“You’ll never make it home in those shoes,” I say, expecting her to protest.

Instead she wraps her arms around my neck. “I was hoping you’d notice that.” She runs her fingernails through the short hair at the nape of my neck, sending charges of electricity down my spine.

When I reach her porch and lower her feet to the ground, all I want to do is press her against the door and kiss her. But Taylor blares from my phone, and I know my sister is wondering why I’m not there.

I don’t answer it, but I take a step back from Georgia. My chest pounds with the words I have to say. I wanted a sign. I may have been blind to all the red flags Carly flew, but Georgia is definitely giving me the green light I’ve been hoping for.

“If I don’t leave now, I’m going to kiss you. And if I kiss you, I’ll never leave,” I say in one breath.

Her mouth pulls into a smile that only makes me want to kiss her more. “Then let’s make that happen when you get back.”

I return her smile, then jog back down the street to my car. I hate that I can’t stay, but I think Georgia finally understands, I don’t want to be anywhere else but with her.

Chapter 33

Georgia

When did I realize Zach mightactuallybe falling for me, not just pretending?

This is the question I turn inside out as I walk into my house. And I have plenty of time to consider the answer because my ankle hurts so bad all I can do is collapse on the couch and think.

For sure I didn’t think his feelings were real all the times he leaned close enough that I was flooded with the scent of soap and cedar. It wasn’t the million times today he got close enough to kiss me but never once touched the curl that needed to be tucked behind my ear. And definitely not the one time when he did reach for it, then booped my nose instead.

Everything he did today to make it look like he’s in love with me, I easily wrote off for what it was. An act. No one could have convinced me otherwise.

But five minutes ago when he said he wanted dinner to be a date and his face turned maroon? That’s the first time I’ve ever thought he might think of me as more than a friend. The moment he couldn’t tell I was joking about the “date situation” and then stumbled all over himself like I’ve seen him do a dozen or more times when he likes a woman.

And as much as I want to go to the Garden to see him, I have to process what’s happening. I feel like those people who play the lottery for years, then win and have no idea what they’re going to do with the money.

What I don’t want is to be one of those winners who goes crazy, spending all their winnings and is broke within a few years. Zach and I have to be more than just attracted to each other. We have to want a relationship that’s potentially forever.

Because there’s so much more than money on the line here. Friendship is priceless. Especially mine and Zach’s. We can’t stoke whatever this is between us into something that burns fast and hot then leaves behind a pile of ashes and nothing else.

I prop my aching foot on a throw pillow and consider my options. The smart thing to do would be to put the brakes on now. Forget the physical and emotional chemistry between us to protect the friendship.

But there’s no way I can forget the feel of his hand in mine. The scruff of his cheek against my lips. The desire in his eyes after I kissed that cheek, or the red in his face when I said “yes” to a dinner date.

And I definitely don’t want to miss out on an actual kiss from him. I don’t have the kind of willpower it would take to resist that opportunity. No one does who’s ever seen Zach’s lips. I need to talk this over with someone, so I pick up my phone and dial Evie.

The rings are cut short, and a text comes in:Helping Adam. Call ya later.

She’s not even officially a Thomsen yet, but she’s been sucked into their everyone-pitches-in vortex. Probably waiting tables at the Garden.

My next best choice is our old roommate Izzy. But she’s all the way in Virginia and probably asleep already.

And, obviously, Zach is out of the question. If he were available, I wouldn’t need to talk this over with anyone. I could have the conversation with him.

I’m starving, which is the only thing that motivates me to get off the couch. I hobble to the kitchen, still thinking about who I can talk to about Zach and what’s just happened.

The next person on my list is Cassie Lee, my roommate back in LA. We’ve texted since I’ve been in Paradise, but we’ve both been so busy we haven’t had a chance to talk. Tonight, she answers on the first ring.

---