Page 72 of Up All Night

The warmth of his body seeped into mine, and I had to hold back a sigh. I already liked being this close to him way too much. We fit comfortably together, the top of my head reaching to about his cheekbone, the perfect height for him to be able to hold me around the waist. He held me to him while we went through a few more waves. Slowly he released his hold on me, replacing his hand on the railing, which had me wishing the water was choppier.

The boat pulled back into the harbor, and as it came to a stop, I felt completely windblown. I was grateful I’d decided to keep my hair up for our activities today, but I was sure much of it had come loose in the wind.

“How bad is my hair?” I asked.

West looked down at me with an amused grin. “It looks like you had a good time.”

My brows rose as I gave him a questioning look.

Realizing what his comment sounded like, he hurried to backpedal. “I mean, not agood timegood time, but like a fun time. A fun time on a boat, out in the wind with—”

I placed a hand on his arm to stop him, not able to hide my smile. “Calm down there. I knew what you meant.” I did love watching him flounder.

His shoulders relaxed. “For some reason I always say things the wrong way when I’m around you.”

I chuckled. “I find it very entertaining.”

“I bet you do.”

His sarcastic comment had me laughing. “So you’re saying you don’t normally get flustered and start rambling?”

“You’re the lucky one who brings it out in me.”

I dramatically put my hands to my chest. “Aww, should I feel special?”

His eyes bored into mine, the blue taking on a more vibrant color. “Very.”

That one word sent a shiver through me. I did feel special. The fact that West had given up his Saturday to spend it with me, even if it was because of our challenge, did make me feel like the lucky one.

I tripped getting off the boat as that thought rolled through me.

West’s hands quickly reached out to grab me. “You okay?”

Was I okay?

Physically, yes. But emotionally, no, definitely not.

I couldn’t exactly tell him that—tell him that this was all too much. That my mind was screaming at me to abandon ship, to run as far away from him as possible. That I couldn’t keep going down this path of friendship that was suddenly feeling like so much more than just a friendship anymore.

“Uh, yeah,” I said, hoping to sound nonchalant and not like I was internally freaking out. “I just didn’t see the ledge there,” I lied.

He kept a hold of my arm until I was safely on the sidewalk. “Don’t want you to be unable to make it to our dinner tonight,” he said with a wink. “I made reservations at Stefano’s.”

Stefano’s? That was one of the nicest restaurants in the city. I didn’t even know if I had a dress fancy enough for dinner at a place like that.

And how was I going to make it through dinner without catching even stronger feelings for West? I’d only end up getting hurt in the end, like I had in every other relationship before this one.

“Stefano’s? You must have really wanted to win this challenge to have made a reservation there.” Hopefully reminding both of us why we were really hanging out would help us keep things from blurring the lines of friendship between us.

“You have to admit that so far this expertly planned day has been amazing.” He gave me a self-satisfied look. “Stefano’s will just be the cherry on top.”

I pretended to study him, my eyes narrowing. “You cheated.”

“What? How?” he said, flabbergasted.

“You planned a day full of fun things, not a day of normal everyday things,” I accused.

“There was no fine print that I was aware of,” he disagreed. “And let’s not forget the normal run we went on this morning.”

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