Page 65 of Petals and Plot Twists
It’s not a wonder she’s scared.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I didn’t mean to imply—we’ll always be friends. Of course we’ll always be friends.”
“You say that, but it doesn’t always work out that way,” Sophie says. “This is why I’ve been trying so hard to get you on the roof. I just wanted to see, to know—” Her words cut off and she looks at me, eyes sharp. “That’s why you’ve been avoiding the roof. You don’twantto know if the flower blooms for us.”
I take a slow, deliberate breath. “I didn’t wantyouto know. I didn’t want you to use it as a reason not to give me a chance.”
“So no explosive diarrhea?” she asks, lifting one eyebrow.
I manage a grin. “Sorry to disappoint you.”
“Honestly, it was worth seeing Archer so uncomfortable when he mentioned it.” She gives her head a little shake. “Still. Aren’t you a little bit curious? Don’t you want to know if the flower thinks we’ll turn into Mr. and Mrs. Hathaway?”
“You’re giving it too much power, Soph,” I say, my tone gentle. “Love is never a guarantee, but I’m not sure it’s supposed to be. It’s an action. If we want to be the Hathaways, still in love when we’re old and gray, then we do the work. We make it happen.”
“But that doesn’t always work. Sometimes people do the work, and they still split up. They still lose each other.”
I shrug. “Is that better or worse than never trying at all?”
“But it’s different with us,” she says, fire drained from her voice. “We’ve been friends for so long, and I don’t want to mess it up.” She looks up, eyes pleading. “Please? If we go up to the garden, we can know for sure. We’ll know if it’s worth the risk of ruining our friendship.”
A part of me wants to say yes. To believe the flowerhas tobloom because there’s no way we aren’t meant for each other. That’s how sure I am of my feelings.
But Sophie is hangingallher hopes on this.
I can’t risk destroying my chances, and that’s exactly what will happen if the flower doesn’t bloom. She’ll give up.
The trouble is, I mightalsobe ruining my chances by saying no.
“That’s just it, Soph. I already know it’s worth it.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Sophie
I stareat my apartment door, a hollow emptiness creeping over me.
After pressing a very sweet kiss to my forehead, Peter told me he needed to take a walk, and then he left.
Walked right out the door like we hadn’t just shared the most monumental kiss of our entire lives.
Or maybebecausewe’d just shared the most monumental kiss of our lives. That would be a very Peter-like thing to do. He always needs time to process how he’s feeling.
I cross into the living room and drop onto my couch, settling into the cushions with an audibleoof.I can’t decide if I’m more upset that Peter left or more upset that he’s so resistant to the idea of visiting the rooftop garden.
It doesn’t make any sense. If he would just go up to the roof with me, we could know. We could save us both from the possibility of getting our hearts broken.
Butno.Peter doesn’t need a flower to tell him howhefeels.
But that’s not even how it works!
Okay, fine. That’s exactly how it works. But doesn’t he see the opportunity we have here? If we could just know, with absolute certainty, that there is the potential fortrue lovebetween us, then we could know whether dating is even worth the risk.
And if it didn’t bloom, well, then we would know that kissingwasa mistake. We were caught up in the heat of the moment, but we could always go back to being friends.
But even as I think the thoughts, I know they aren’t true. Nothing about that kiss was a mistake, and I’ll never go back to looking at Peter like he’s just a friend.
But where does that leave us?
