Page 36 of Butter My Biscuit

She snorts, smoothing her hands down her sweater. “I’m so clumsy sometimes.”

“You spelled tipsy wrong. I hope you always stay like this,” I tell her.

“Clumsy?”

“Happy,” I say.

We move toward the resort lawn chairs that are facing the sea. Gracie sits on the edge of one, and I nudge in right beside her.

She turns to me. “How much longer do we have until it rises?”

I pull my phone from my pocket and check the time. “Fifteen minutes.”

“Oh good.”

Grace scoots closer and lifts my arm and places it over her so we have more room. Then, she leans her head against me, and I can smell her perfume and her flowery shampoo.

A few stars are twinkling in the distance, but it’s nothing like what we see at home, where there’s hardly any light pollution. The wind slightly blows, and Grace shivers.

“Take my jacket.”

I move forward, sliding my arm from behind her head and removing the jacket from my body. When I hand it to her, she happily takes it.

“Thank you. If you get cold, tell me, and I’ll give it back.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I’ve got on layers.” And plus, my body is on fucking fire.

We return back to how we were before. We sit in silence, just enjoying the sounds of the waves crashing on the shore as we sit in the dark. A couple walks by, and they’re laughing about something, and then it’s just us again.

“One minute,” I whisper.

Then, as if we invited the moon to visit, it peeks over the horizon.

“Wow,” she whispers.

We’re mesmerized by it as it slowly drifts over the horizon. Moonlight dances across the rippling water and waves. At first, it looks red, then transforms into a bright white. Wisps of clouds float across the top.

Once it’s high in the sky, Grace sits up and looks at me. “Tonight wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“No, I had a great time.”

“All because of you,” she says, wrapping her arm around me, listening to my heartbeat.

“One day, you’ll find someone who makes you happy,” I tell her with a promise.

“Maybe I already have,” she whispers into the night, and the only thing that pulls me away is my phone vibrating.

A part of me thinks it might be River, but I unlock it and see a text from Stephanie. And I know Grace sees it.

7

GRACE

Harrison’s phone buzzes, and he pulls it from his pocket. With one glance, I read the name across the top.Stephanie.

I swallow hard and remember how things were in high school when they were together. Honestly, when they broke up, I was happy. For years, I’d thought maybe Harrison was going to marry her. I guess that’s still a possibility, considering she broke it off with her fiancé.

“Ready to go?” he asks, patting my arm, sitting up.

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