Page 40 of Prime Time Romance

I’m cold.

And I kind of want the sweatshirt back.

We continue to walk. The night gets a little darker as the trees thicken, forming a canopy until there’s a break in the woods and the sky opens up again as the beach comes into view.

However, with no trees to shelter us, the breeze from the water picks up.

Goosebumps prickle up my arms, setting off an inner battle of Brynn versus Sloan. Warmth-seeking practicality versus the desire to be exactly what Spencer wants.

I hold out at first, telling myself it’s just a breeze.

Mind over matter.

But then my teeth begin to chatter, clattering so loudly that I’m shocked Spencer doesn’t say anything.

“So…” I attempt to distract myself from the cold. “Tell me more about LA. Was it everything you hoped it would be?”

Spencer smiles. “LA was LA, but it wasn’t Carson’s Cove.” He slows his walk. “There’s something really special about this place. There’s nowhere in the world quite like it, and I’m just really glad to be back. Especially with you.”

My heart swells with unabashed hope.

Our cottages come into view.

“Looks like we’re home.” Spencer nods at his own house, then Sloan’s house next door, which is all dark save for the yellow porch light.

“It was great to see you again.” He pulls me into a hug. My cheek crunches against his collarbone, and I get a whiff of something. It’s definitely not cedar. But before I can place it, he pulls away. “We should do this again soon.”

He doesn’t move. Not closer. Not even farther away. He just stands there.

I do the same, rooted in my spot on the road.

This is the point where it happens. Where the scales tip in one direction or the other. Where we decide to take this a step further or call it a night.

Everything is perfect. The moonlight. The sound of the waves. All I need to do is reach out my arms. But for some reason, I don’t.

He steps away first.

“Well, I’m beat. I’m going to head in. I’ll see you tomorrow though?” He asks it like a question, and I find myself nodding along.

“Sure, yeah, me too. You know, all of that pedaling.”

He starts to walk toward his cottage but stops halfway, turning slowly back to face me, and I think, Here it is. Right now. It’s the moment I’ve been waiting for.

“Hey, Sloan.”

He pauses, and my mind completes the sentence in a hundred different ways:

I’ve always loved you.

I’ve finally realized we are soulmates.

I regret leaving fifteen years ago without ever telling you how I felt.

He takes a deep breath, and I know whatever he’s going to say next is going to change my life.

“I forgot to give you back your sweatshirt.”

He tosses me Josh’s hoodie, then waves and heads inside the house next door to Sloan’s.