Page 59

Naomi shakes her head and makes a shushing sound. “It’s okay.”

“You’re my best friend, and I never want that to change. Me wanting other friends, or even a…a boyfriend doesn’t mean you mean anything less to me.”

“I know.” Naomi shifts her hands up to grip Priya’s shoulders. “Sometimes it’s hard for me to stop worrying about stuff like that, but I know now, and I want you to have everything you want.”

I hear another sniffle and look over to see Shal is trying to blink back tears too.

“Thank you,” Priya says again. “That’s everything I needed to hear. I’m…I’m so sorry I told everyone about your…that you…”

She glances over at me and then back at Naomi. My heart pounds as I wait for Naomi’s reaction. A couple seconds pass, and then she turns her head to beam at me.

My breath catches. Even in her adorable pickle pajamas, I don’t think she’s ever looked cuter than she does right now.

“Well, I’m glad you did,” she answers Priya without taking her eyes off me.

I’m about to say screw it all and run over to yank her off Priya so I can kiss her in the middle of this road, but Shal breaks the spell of the moment by marching over to the driver’s side door and yanking it open.

“Do you want to get freaking married in this corn field, or can I finally get my damn Slushie?”

The shrill screams of people shooting down dozens of massive water slides ring out above the pop song blaring through the park’s sound system. Water drips off my bikini to darken the concrete under my feet. I shiver as a wisp of cloud drifts across the sun to cast us in shadow where we’re standing in line for one of the most popular rides in the park.

Naomi notices and turns from where she’s been caught in a debate with Shal and Priya about when we should go get lunch at the food court.

“Cold?” she asks.

I rub my hands up and down my arms. “Just a little.”

‘A little’ is an understatement. We’ve been waiting in line in our soaked bathing suits for so long my teeth are chattering.

“Oh no,” Naomi says, her forehead creasing when I fail to clench my jaw hard enough to keep her from hearing the rattle of my teeth. “Here, let me help.”

She steps closer and grips my arms so she can start rubbing me too. My body floods with warmth in a split second—not from the friction, but from how close she’s standing in nothing but a cute little two piece while her palms slide over my skin.

I’d call her out for pulling a smooth move on me, but when I see her eyes flare as they lock on mine, I realize she’s just as shocked by the intensity of the heat building between us. She blinks, and I watch the flutter of her pale eyelashes.

“Okay, we get it. You’re a thing now. No need for the excessive PDA.”

I look over Naomi’s shoulder and see Shal making a show out of rolling her eyes, but she can’t stop herself from smiling. Priya is biting back a grin too as she shifts her gaze around the park like she’s trying not to stare at us.

Naomi coughs and drops her hands to her sides. There’s already a flush creeping up her neck as she steps away from me and tucks her hair behind her ears.

“Andrea was just cold.” Her defensive tone makes her sound way guiltier than she is.

The fact that she can’t meet anyone’s eyes right now doesn’t help her case.

Shal looks up at the cloud still draped across the sun. “Honestly, I’m getting cold too, and this line has not moved for at least five minutes, which is why I think we should just try again after lunch.”

“We did make it all the way from there to here,” I say, pointing over my shoulder at the distant end of the line, “and the line might be even longer after we eat.”

Priya wraps her arms around her stomach. “I am really hungry. I almost grabbed that kid’s fries when he walked by.”

Shal laughs. “I would pay to see you actually try that. Looks like Naomi is the deciding vote here, though.”

We all turn to Naomi. She scans the length of the line all the way up to the slide while hemming and hawing like she’s trying to get out of making a decision.

“I mean, we are a lot closer now…” she says, “but then again, it has been a long time…”

Shal snorts. “Very helpful. Look, how about this? Pri and I go eat since we’re the hungriest, and if you’re still in line when we’re done, we’ll rejoin you.”