Page 178 of A Very Merry Enemy
“Remember the last time we rode this?” he asks.
“And I kissed you?” I ask innocently. When we were seventeen, I kissed him and he kissed me back. Then I took things too far by sliding his hand under my shirt to touch me. He pulled away and told meno.
“Yeah, that’s what we’ll call it.” He leans in and whispers, “I had a hard-on for a week.”
I turn to look at him. “Proof I’ve always crushed on you.”
“Whatever, I crushed on you harder. Don’t start this argument, you will never win it,” he tells me. “I’ll kick your ass from here to next Christmas with that one, HoHo.”
Laughter releases from me again, and my heart swells. “I tried to kiss you when we were twelve, and you pushed me away. I always made the first move, Jolly.”
“Yeah, because Sammy threatened to kick my ass for having a crush on you, and he was bigger than me,” he explains, and it’s true. Sammy used to tower over all the kids our age because he hit a growth spurt early. “I had to wait until I could defend myself.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I tell him, loving that we have so much history together. “Wait, you told my brother you had a crush on me way back then?” My mouth falls open.
“Don’t act shocked. You knew. You could feel it,” he says.
“I could,” I say as the operator waves us into a gondola.
We climb in, and the safety door clicks shut. As the wheel starts moving, Lucas pulls me close to his side. We lift up into theair, and the fairground spreads out below us. The bonfire is blazing, the Christmas lights are twinkling, and so many people are celebrating together. It’s beautiful and magical and exactly what I remember.
Almost at the very top, everything stops.
The wheel comes to a stop and our bucket sways in the cold breeze.
I turn to look at him, really look at him. His green eyes catch the light from below and above. His smile is soft now, genuine. “I was hoping we’d get stuck up here.”
He searches my face, and some of that playfulness fades into something deeper. “The view is incredible.”
“It is,” I whisper as he leans in and kisses me. His hand slides up my shirt and across my breasts. I gasp.
“Making up for lost time,” he whispers, kissing my neck.
I laugh, running my fingers through his hair. He pulls away. “What would you have done if that was my response?”
“Oh, I’d have given you my virginity then,” I admit. “It was only ever going to be you.”
He smirks, and I look out at the festival. All of the grounds being lit up like this makes it feel like a dream. Merryville sparkles with Christmas lights. I turn back to him and shiver.
Lucas immediately shrugs his coat off. “Here. Take this.”
“No way. You’ll freeze. Put it back on.”
“I’ll survive. I’m used to this.” He drapes it over my shoulders and pulls me against him. “Just want you warm.”
I snuggle into his side, breathing in his scent lingering on the collar of his jacket. We sit in comfortable silence for a moment, just swaying in the breeze. I can hear faint carousel music from below. Kids are laughing, and someone’s singing “Jingle Bells” off-key.
Lucas stares out at the view, and I watch his expression shift. The playfulness fades and something more serious takes its place. “I’ve been thinking a lot this week. About Nashville. About what you should do.”
“I—”
“Fifteen years ago, I let you leave because I thought it was the right thing to do. Because I thought you needed to figure out who you were without me. So you knew that I was who you wanted. And I lost you because I didn’t speak up.”
“Lucas—”
“This time, I’m not letting you go.” His voice cracks. “I’m so fucking aware that Mary Carter is offering you everything you’ve ever worked for. I know it’s a chance for you to build something that’s completely yours in a city that’s exploding with opportunities.”
Tears stream down my face, hot against my cold cheeks.
