Page 65 of When The Rain Falls

“You said you owe me. You know, back in line,” I point out. “I need to know just howmuchyou owe me. So I can fully capitalize on this.”

“Oh no. I’m not giving you that kind of power.” He squeezes my hand and the corner of his lip is doing that thing where it quirks just slightly.

We’re holding hands. We shared fries and now we’re holding hands. You can’t tell me this doesn’t mean something.

22SAY MY NAME, SAY MY NAME

FINN

“Ta-da!”Aimee pulls a bottle of wine from a paper bag like it’s a rabbit out of a hat.

The analogy is not too far off. She’s magically eroded all the self-control I’ve built up over the past three years. But everything feels so right with her. And that’s why I took her hand. It just felt right. And I was burning to feel her skin against mine. When our hands joined and when I wrapped my hands around hers, she quickly reciprocated. It felt like ayes.I don’t even know the question. But ayesfelt pretty damn good all the same.

"Please tell me it's not pumpkin flavored?" I glance at her skeptically.

"Sadly, no," she says. "But the label is really cute, see?" She turns the wine bottle so the labels face me. It's a sasquatch drinking out of a wine glass.

"I should have known. Of course you pick your wine based on the label." I shake my head as I rummage through the kitchen drawers trying to remember where I last put the wine opener. I side-eye the wine label again and shake my head. Laurel was a wine snob. Just seeing that bottle on this property would cause an uproar.

"Don't be ridiculous," she says. "First I go by shelf height andthenI go by label."

"Shelf height?" I repeat, confused, as I open and shut another drawer, unsuccessfully.

"Yeah. The middle shelf."

"Why the middle?"

"Because that's where the best wine is. The bottom shelf is college garbage. The top shelf is pretentious. The middle shelf is the sweet spot. It's the Goldilocks of wine," she explains. I can’t help but think thatpretentiouswas Laurel’s style.

"Is this a hard and fast rule?" I ask her. "What if there was a really cute label on the top shelf?"

"How cute?" she asks, seriously.

"I don't know." I shrug.

"Bear. Wine is too serious a topic to leave to hypotheticals. You need to be specific."

"A mommy otter hugging a baby otter," I suggest.

Aimee considers. But she doesn't seem convinced.

"Sliding down a rainbow," I add. I gauge her reaction, but she still seems unconvinced. "In an upside-down umbrella."

"Ok. Fine,” she says with exasperation. “You got me.” I press my lips together to stop the smile creeping up my cheek.

"Why do you always do that?" she asks. "Why don't you smile? Is smiling so horrible?"

"First of all. Why do you care what my face does?” I ask pointedly. I’m pretty sure shewouldcare if she knew what I wanted to do with my face right now. Which is part her long, shapely legs. “Second, do you have to ask so many questions?"

"Yeah. I do. I'm naturally curious. It's my best feature."

"I disagree," I tell her. I disagree because her actual best feature is the ability to make me want to keep smiling. Now that she mentions it, I don’t know why I keep stopping myself. I just didn’t have many reasons to smile until she came intothe picture. And I wasn’t ready for it. For the way she gives me something to smile about. I was caught completely off guard.

I finally locate the corkscrew and bring down a wine glass. Aimee makes her way to the couch and starts some horrible movie. Something calledChainsaw Zombie Murders.

I pour a glass of wine and scan the table where the girls are handling sharp, pointy objects as they carve pumpkins. Who decided this was an excellent child activity? Taking candy from strangers. Giving kids knives. Movies about murders. There is something seriously wrong with the people who invented Halloween.

I walk past the table and head toward the couch, where I set the glass of wine on the side table. I stand awkwardly, facing the TV. Aimee’s, of course, sitting in the middle couch cushion. Should I sit next to her? Is that too close? In front of the kids? Would that be weird?

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