Page 42

“Are you okay?” he asks.

I give him a thumbs-up. “Never better. So, where do you want to eat this thing?”

“I know the perfect spot. Come on,” he says, grabbing my hand.

First, I think he’s taking me to the Ferris wheel, but when we whiz straight past that, I realize he’s got a different plan. Solar Adventure Town towers in front of us, the part of the park that houses not only a super cool space-themed roller coaster but also the planetarium.

He leads me to the building where the planetarium is located and switches the lights on. After fumbling with some other levers and buttons, the ceiling transforms into a sea of stars and planets.

We nestle ourselves in the plush seats, the cotton candy between us. I pluck a piece off and put it in my mouth, munching it slowly.

Colton, on the other hand, sinks his teeth right into the soft texture of the candy. When he pulls back, his nose is all pink.

“You’ve got something on your nose,” I say.

He grins. “Really?”

I swallow and touch the tip of his nose, trying to sweep it off, but it’s too sticky. He takes my hand, then places soft kisses on my fingers. “Thanks for that.”

“No worries. Maybe you should use your hands to eat instead.”

“I don’t think so. You should try my way of eating,” he says with a laugh. “The sticky nose is more than worth it.”

I smile and take a bite without using my hands this time. He’s right. This is much more fun.

We both take another bite. Our noses touch, and I chuckle. Not because this situation is funny, but because I’m way too excited and I need an outlet for my pent-up feelings.

Slowly but surely, we finish off the entire cotton candy. When we’re both at the last bite, our lips touch. The kiss is sweet and sticky, the kind of imperfectness that makes a kiss simply perfect. A soft sigh escapes from my mouth and I realize I want more. I want—I need—certainty about where this thing between us is headed. I can’t cope without there being fine lines and definitions. Call me a control freak, but I don’t want to keep wondering if we’re in an exclusive relationship or not.

As I come up gasping for air, I tell him how I feel. “Colton. I want to go all-in. I don’t want to keep guessing where we’re at. I need this to be clear.”

He nods. “Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. I want us to be together, Elle. So bad.”

I bite my lip. “Do I sense a but coming? Is this about Maggie?”

“No,” he says. “It’s not. I mean, we both know her not approving of us dating is nothing but a weak excuse. We’re adults, right? We can do what we want. It’s just that…”

“Yes?”

He sighs. “What if Maggie is right? What if I break your heart when I leave?”

Oh, right. The leaving.

“How set are you on leaving?”

“Very. It’s not that I don’t want to stick around for you, Elle. I might. I just don’t want to end up like my father.” He winces as he speaks those words, as if he’s eaten an entire lime and can’t get the taste out of his mouth.

“What happened between you two?” I cautiously ask.

He flicks me a gaze, assessing me, almost as if he’s not sure about sharing the details of this particular part of his life with me. Then he puts his hands in his lap and sighs. “He bolted. Said he didn’t want to be stuck in a small town like Summerville Creek and that we were the reason he had to give up his dreams.”

“That must’ve been rough.”

He nodded. “Yeah, but that wasn’t even the worst part. He left when Mom got sick. They had always dreamed of traveling the world together, but they never did. First, it was lack of money, then it was us. They had four kids in a short amount of time. And then, when we were old enough to go and see the world with them, Mom’s health deteriorated. When we found out she was terminally ill, he left. Can you believe that? He just left. Didn’t even have the decency to stick around until after she was gone. I can’t understand how he could do that to her. We helped Mom buy the house at the beach and made sure her remaining time was spent in a loving way. Even after all that, we never heard from him.”

The anger in his eyes and desperation in his voice breaks my heart. I don’t speak, instead I pull him close and envelop him in a tight hug. We sit in silence for a while, until my arm is sleeping, and I need to change positions if I still want my extremities to work after tonight.

I clear my throat. “I can’t understand why someone would do that either. But I need to know this. Why do you think staying here will turn you into him?”