Page 106 of All In Good Time

Mal grinned, her entire face lit up. “Oh my god. You totally did.” She turned to Jane and grabbed the other girl’s hand in excitement. “I told you! I knew it as soon as he giggled like a little boy earlier.” She clapped her hands in triumph.

Becca inhaled sharply. “He did what?”

“He was totally grinning and laughing to himself the entire way to Jane’s house. Seriously, it was kind of freaky.”

Becca’s chest grew light, and a fluttering settled into her stomach. She herself had been all sorts of giddy after their interaction last night, but to imagine Derek that way—her heart soared.

“Is he your boyfriend?” Jane chimed in, leaning her elbows onto her knees.

Becca shot up, caught off guard by the question. “What? No.” Right? They were friends. Friends who just happened to have kissed—twice. He was her best friend—who she just happened to be in love with. That’s it.

Jane frowned at her response. “You kissed him and he’s not your boyfriend?”

“I didn’t say we kissed.”

Jane stared at Becca a moment, while Mal laughed so hard, she clutched her stomach.

“Mal.” Jane’s attention turned back to her friend, who stopped cackling long enough to look up. “Truth or dare?”

Mal sat up, her eyes shining with entertained delight. “Dare.”

Jane looked just as mischievous as Mal. “I dare you to call Derek and ask him if they kissed.”

Mal was already on her feet, walking across the room, laughing once again. “Oh my god. He’ssogoing to kill me.” If she actually believed that, it didn’t deter her enough to not do the dare. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying it too much.

Silently, Becca panicked and froze in her spot. It was still embarrassing for her. To know that she loved him, that they had reached a level they’d never be able to come back from, and not knowing if the extent to which she loved was matched. She worried something simple would add cracks to what already felt like a delicate step forward.

“No. Mal.”

But she was already on the phone, and it was already ringing.

Becca covered her face with her hands, hiding the redness that was surely swelling.

She couldn’t hear much more than a mumble from the other room, and then, less than a minute later, it was over and Mal was back in the room.

Jane’s eyes were huge, expectantly watching Mal cross the room, and Becca lowered just one of her fingers to try and evaluate Mal’s expression. But she wasn’t eagerly throwing “Ha, ha. You two kissed” into Becca’s face.

“What did he say?” Jane finally asked.

Mal fell back on the couch, and slouched into it, looking disappointed. “I didn’t talk to him. Apparently, he’s in his room and can’t come out right now.”

Becca’s embarrassment faded, and she dropped her hands into her lap. She would have rather Mal came in and never let her live it down. Instead, she had to silently wonder what “can’t come out right now” meant. Her fingers curled into her palm, and she dug her nails into the skin, trying to distract herself.

As much as she wanted to, there was nothing she could do that would make it easier for him. Whateveritwas.

She took a deep breath and put a smile on her face. A distraction was needed. “Jane. Truth or dare?”

Jane sat up straight, her mouth forming a surprised “O” shape. “Truth.”

“Have you had your first kiss?”

Mal laughed and turned to Jane, waiting for an answer, while Jane looked bashfully down at her hands.

Meanwhile, Becca’s fingers scraped against the inside of her hand, and tried to calm her nerves. This was all she could do—until he came to her first.

* * *

Derek laid on his bed with an arm tucked under his head. The sun had risen an hour ago, and he’d only left the room momentarily to get a glass of water, but had promptly returned to his seclusion after seeing that the hole Mark smashed in the wall was gone. The dust was gone, the ground was clean, and all that was left was a picture of flowers in a vase hanging right where the hole should have been. Like it never even existed.

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