Page 71 of Up All Night

The day wasn’t even half over yet, but it felt like it was going too fast. As much as I knew it wasn’t smart to want more days like this with her, it was exactly what I wanted. When I was with her, the weight of my future didn’t seem as heavy. The constant thought of needing to work more to work harder, to figure out how to appease my father—all those thoughts seemed to float away. She was like the sun, so bright you couldn’t see anything but her, couldn’t think of anything outside of her.

She looked over at me, catching me watching her. She smiled up at me, and if we hadn’t been on a trolley full of people, I would have kissed her. Fortunately (or unfortunately), we were surrounded by people. She made it impossible for me to remember that I wanted to remain friends. The thoughts I was having about her—appropriate or not—were anything but friendly.

Nothing like a few glasses of wine to help me stick to my friends-only mantra.

Whose idea was it anyway to go to a wine tasting? Yeah, I definitely hadn’t thought this through.

21

Halle

West’s arms were currently caging me in. His hands grabbed the railing on either side of my body to keep him steady on the rocking boat. My back was to his front, and there were so many people along the railing looking at the incredible view of the Golden Gate Bridge that there wasn’t enough room for us to stand side by side. So now he stood behind me, his warm body making it difficult for me to not want to relax into him. His delicious scent wafted around me, and all I wanted to do was turn around and snuggle into his arms. I blamed it on the wine.

But instead of throwing myself at him, I focused on the beauty of the Golden Gate Bridge and seeing a view I’d never experienced before. I’d seen the famous bridge thousands of times, but I’d never gone sailing and viewed it from below.

I wasn’t sure if West knew he had planned such a romantic day, but I was feeling all the romantic vibes. First, the gardens, then the wineries, and now the sailing. It was like I was in a romance movie. Not that I was complaining. I had enjoyed every minute of our time together today. He was easy to talk to and equally as easy to be in comfortable silence with. I wanted to know everything about him. We’d talked about so many random things today, but the more we talked, the more I wanted to know.

I was beginning to fall for West Vanderhall, and the thought both excited me and scared me. Bringing up a little of my dating life today had reminded me I was a horrible judge of character. I had several past boyfriends to prove it. My heart wanted to tell me West was different from all those other guys, but my brain wasn’t going to be fooled again.

Plus, West was focused on his career. He’d told me several times, and I would be crazy to think he would be willing to add me to his already busy life. The need to prove himself to his father ran deep. A lot deeper than his commitment to some girl he enjoyed hanging out with, whom he did random competitions with, and who happened to live above him.

“The view from here is incredible,” he said, his breath brushing against my ear.

I shivered at his closeness, hoping to pass it off as coming from the wind. “It really is.”

“Have you ever been on a boat before?” he asked.

“Does a kayak count?”

The sound of his laughter could be heard over the wind. “I don’t think that qualifies as a boat.”

“Then, no, I haven’t.” I’d never had the opportunity or ever really thought about it. “What about you?”

He got a little closer to me, his chest now brushing against my back. “I used to go sailing with my dad and grandpa when I was younger, but I haven’t been out on the water in a long time. I forgot how thrilling it can be, the wind in your face and the smell of salt in the air.”

I glanced over my shoulder, and he looked to be caught in a memory. “Why don’t you go sailing with your dad anymore?”

He blinked a couple of times before looking down at me. “I went to college, and soon after that my grandfather died. My dad got even busier with work, if that was possible, and we drifted apart.” His gaze moved out to the water passing by us, a look of sadness creeping into his features.

Now I wanted to turn around so I could hug him. It was obvious that the distance between him and his dad was hard for him. Between the pressure he felt to live up to his dad’s expectations and the loss of what their relationship used to be, the weight of it seemed to be taking a toll on him.

“Have you tried asking him if he would like to go sailing with you?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No. He’s too busy for that.”

Was he really too busy, or was West too scared to ask him for fear of his dad turning him down? I kept that question to myself, though. He didn’t need me digging into his family relationships.

“I can see why people like to be out on the water like this,” I said truthfully. Floating along the San Francisco coastline had exhilaration running through my veins. Being on the water with the wind on my face was, like West said, a one-of-a-kind experience.

“Maybe one day I could take you sailing.” He said it so quietly that I barely heard it above the noise of the boat.

My eyes roamed his face, seeing the vulnerability there, before connecting with his gaze. “I’d like that.”

A smile slowly stretched across his face, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

We stayed like that for a moment, something shifting between us—and not for the first time. It seemed like every time we were together, things kept changing, constantly moving, our relationship never staying in the same place. Was he having a hard time not pulling me into his arms? Did he know I was wishing he would?

The boat jolted, and I stumbled backwards into West as a wave of water splashed up. One of his arms wrapped around my waist, helping to steady us as his other hand firmly held the railing to ground us.

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