"Really?" Amelia says, a little shocked.
"It’s something I’m thinking about," I finally say.
"First, he has to decide if he wants to stay." Ethan cuts in and slaps my shoulder. "Then we can work on the second part."
"Decides to stay?" Amelia asks me, confusion in her voice, and I don’t make eye contact with her.
"I’ll see you tomorrow." I ignore her question, nodding as I wait for Amelia to walk out of the house. I hear her footsteps behind me, and I walk over to the truck, opening the door for her. She ignores me, reaching out her hand and pulling the door closed.
I look back at the house, seeing that Jacob and Kallie are standing on the porch watching us. I raise my hand to wave to them and walk around the truck, getting inside.
"You okay?" I ask, and she ignores me, looking out the window and waves to her parents as her face fills with a fake smile. I know it’s a fake smile because her eyes don’t crinkle at the sides, and her face doesn’t light up.
The drive back to her house is brutal, and I look over at her way too many times. Each time, she has her head turned to the side, fixated on looking out the window. She doesn’t even wait for me to put the truck in park before she is out.
Putting the truck in park, I get out and look up at the setting sun. I look at the house and then back at the truck. Get in the truck and leave, I tell myself. For you and for her.
My feet move toward the house. "I’ll just get my bags and leave," I tell myself. Opening the door, I walk into the cold house. My eyes look at the couch and find it empty. I walk to the kitchen and open the fridge, grabbing a water bottle. "You’re leaving?" I hear her voice and softly close the fridge door.
I look over as she stands there with her arms crossed over her chest. All the words that I have to say are stuck in my throat. "I haven’t decided yet" are the only words that come out as I watch her. My feet are glued to the floor instead of going over to her.
"You haven’t decided yet." Her voice goes louder. "You haven’t decided yet?" she repeats the words like she didn’t hear them.
"There are lots of things to process." My eyes never leave hers as she glares at me.
"A lot of things to process," she says. "Really?" Her sarcasm comes out, and I want to laugh at her. I also want to kiss the ever-loving shit out of her. Bury my hands into her hair and claim her mouth with mine. Take the kiss that has been haunting me since I stepped foot into this town.
"I’ve never stayed in one place longer than four months," I say.
"You’ve been here longer than that," she says, and I nod silently. "Why would you leave?"
"Why would I stay?" I ask, and she just looks at me, not saying a word. "Exactly." I push off the counter, walking over to my side of the house. "Anyway, it’s better to leave before we go past the point of no return."
Chapter 18
Amelia
"Why would I stay?" he asks, and all I can do is stare at him. That almost kiss in the garage made my stomach burn. I didn’t think I would be able to walk up the stairs because my whole body was shaking. I sat eating food at the table, the whole time trying not to look over at him. The whole time, I wanted to run outside and scream at the top of my lungs. "Anyway, it’s better to leave before we go past the point of no return."
"When are you going to make this decision?" I ask, the lump in my throat getting bigger and bigger.
"As soon as I do, you’ll be the first to know," he says, and I know that if I don’t walk out right now, he’ll see that him leaving will bother me.
Walking to my room, I close the door behind me. I put my back against it and slowly slip to the floor. Him leaving would be good, my head screams. You have one goal and one goal only. To be successful and not count on anyone but yourself. To do it on your own so no one can ever say they gave you anything. Everyone will know I busted my ass to get where I was, and I didn’t get there because my family gave it to me.
I ignore him for the next four days, each day waiting for the other shoe to drop.
* * *
I slam the door shut and walk over to my grandfather, who stands there with his hands on his hips. "Here she is," he says, looking at me as I make my way over to him. He takes me in his arms and kisses my head. "How are you feeling?"