Page 56 of Must Have Been Love

“I’m just trying to picture you as a young punk. I bet you were devastating.”

“On the contrary. I had an overbite that took three years of braces to fix. And I was skinny as a rake.”

“And I bet they all still wanted you.” She steeples her fingers under her chin. “How old were you when you lost your virginity?”

My brows lift.

“You tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine,” she says.

“I was seventeen. And it wasn’t pretty. You?”

“Sixteen.” She wrinkles her nose. “Also not pretty.”

“I disagree. Everything about you is pretty.”

She traces the veins on the back of my hand with her finger. “Were you born with a sweet tongue or did it arrive with the muscles and perfect teeth?”

“I’m not sure that’s for me to say.” I turn my hand over and slide my fingers through hers. She doesn’t pull away and that feels like a victory. “What’s your favorite memory?” I ask her.

“Losing my virginity,” she jokes and I laugh.

“Seriously.”

“Okay.” She nods, using her free hand to rub her jaw. “Let me think. It has to involve Lee because all my good memories involve her.”

“Lee?”

“My older sister. Half sister, I guess, but it’s never felt like half. She’s my you, and I’m her Autumn.”

“How is she like me?”

“She’s got her life together. She and our mom are two peas in a pod that way. Good jobs, own their own homes, they don’t run away to an island on a whim.”

“They sound boring,” I say, only half kidding. She smiles at me.

“Lee’s always been my biggest cheerleader. I guess one of my favorite memories is the time we went camping. The first and last as a family.” Her eyes meet mine. “I begged so much that my mom relented. She regretted it the moment we got there and she realized we had no idea how to put the tent up.” Skyler’s eyes light up as she talks. “She lasted one day before she packed us up, leaving the tent behind, and drove us to a hotel. But that day…” Her face goes soft at the memory. “We had so much fun. Lee is a bit like our mom, a city girl, but she let me lead the way. We swam in the lake, climbed trees. Made a fort with some sticks even though we had tents. And then mom thought she heard a bear and that was that.”

“What were you like as a kid?” I ask her.

“Always messy. My head in the clouds.” She shrugs. “Pretty much the same as I am now.”

I run my thumb over the back of her hand. “Come here.”

“I am here,” she replies, a smile ghosting her lips.

I pat my lap. She tips her head to the side, her skin flushing. “Is that a good idea?”

“You don’t strike me as somebody who cares if things are a good idea,” I reply, dodging the question. “Now are you coming here or do I have to come to you?”

I stand, still holding her hand, pulling her up from her chair until her body hits mine. With my free hand I stroke her hair. She inclines her head to look at me, her heart-shaped face so fucking lovely I want to remember it forever.

“I want to kiss you so badly it’s killing me,” I whisper.

Her lips part. “I want you to,” she says. “But…”

“But?”

“If we’re going to do this,” she breathes, “we need to agree to some rules.”

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