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I almost dropped the phone.Oh my god do you even have to ask??? I want the matcha one pleeeassseeee you’re the best Harper I love youuuu

She replied with,all right good, just confirming, now do you want to unlock the car?

I jolted to where Harper was standing outside the passenger side door, holding a drink carrier with two cups of bubble tea. The little rat had already known I wanted the matcha one. She was too good.

I unlocked the door, and she stepped inside, handing me my drink as she settled in. “Quite the ride you’ve got.”

“How long were you sneaking up next to me?”

“I sent that text as soon as I got here.”

“And not a compliment?”

She shut the door, looking away. “You look gorgeous. That color is beautiful on you.”

That one, I could work with. I hummed happily to myself as I sipped the tea, started the car, and pulled out of the lot. “I make anything look good,” I said lightly.

“I would believe it,” she said in that small voice where she hadn’t meant to say it. She swallowed, folding her hands in her lap, but I just focused on driving instead of teasing her today.

She really was cute, though.

Chapter 15

Harper

I needed treehouse therapy, as humiliating as that was to admit. It was a bigger house thantreehouseimplied, still not much more than a loft but certainly comfortable enough to sleep in, and being wrapped up in nature, leaves outside the windows and the water in view sparkling under starlight—it was glorious.

Paisley had booked us a loft with two twin beds, and I tried not to feel disappointed when I saw it, reasoning that I did not want us sharing a bed right now, even though I knew better than that.

It was more of a small treehouse resort, honestly—there were rope bridges running between the thick, tall trees, winding through lush natural strips and the treehouses. Paisley and I walked through it all, slowly, side-by-side, finishing our bubble tea and then stopping into the central building—built on ground level, but the bridges connected to the second floor, so we never touched the ground—to get dinner together. And sitting at a beautiful restaurant like this one across from Paisley, wearing a cute, chic red minidress with an A-line silhouette and subtlepleating adding a playful character, watching the way her eyes sparkled when she laughed…

There was no explanation for the all-consuming feeling in my chest, the way she seemed to take up my entire mind. It wasn’t like I didn’t know I was in love with her, but just… having to sit here and process that fully? Really wrap my head around what it meant?

One of Bayview’s signature sudden rainstorms picked up while we were finishing up, and we grabbed an umbrella and hurried back to the treehouse, Paisley giggling the whole way until we collapsed back under a solid roof and got to watch the leaves outside the window swaying under the weight of the water, and she threw her bag and the umbrella on the bed.

“Paisley—you’re getting the bed sopping wet.”

“Oh, shoot.” She laughed, taking them out of the bed and hanging them up by the door instead.

It was only once we were heading for bed that I realized it had been intentional, when she sat down on the bed she’d gotten wet and made a face.

“Ugh, it’s soaked. I’m not getting any sleep here.”

It didn’t look that bad. I shrugged, sinking back into the other bed. “Strange how these things happen. Fine, we can share.”

“You’re the literal best ever,” she sang, dropping herself on top of me in bed. It was a small bed, so there really wasn’t room for us to do anything other than cuddle, but…

“You’ve told me a million times I’m the literal worst ever.”

“You can be both. You contain multitudes.”

She was so soft, so… small. I settled on my side with an arm over her waist, and the soft texture of her pajama shirt, the small shape of her waist… this close, with both of us a little rained on, the scent of her flooded my senses, and it was like there was nothing in the world but me and her. No Bayview, no bakery, noHolcomb, no leaving for New York, no families, just me and her, tangled up like this.

Paisley’s expression softened. “What are you thinking about?”

I should have lied. I couldn’t. “How nice this is…”

She settled into the sweetest smile I’d ever seen, nestling closer. “Yeah? Fan of treehouse therapy?”