Page 114 of High Season

“You mean about the fact you have a girlfriend?”

Her voice came out steely. Stronger than she expected it to. He winced at the word.

“She’s not my… Jesus. She’s not my girlfriend, Hannah. Cordelia is… she’s an ex. I broke up with her a few months back. But she’s… she’s crazy, Hannah. She’s still obsessed with me. And her parents have a house out here, so she’s impossible to avoid…”

“It didn’t look like she was your ex.”

“I know, I know.”

He combed one hand through his hair, agitated.

“She’s… it’s hard to explain. She’s not well, Hannah. She’s… she’sunstable. She went berserk when I tried to break up with her. She was threatening to kill herself. When she turned up at the beach I freaked out. She was acting like we were still together. I didn’t know what to do.”

“So that’s why you pushed me off you?” Hannah didn’t try to hide the skepticism in her voice.

“Hannah, you don’t know what she’s capable of. When I saw you at the beach… well, I was worried what she’d do, if she knew about us. I was worried she’d hurt herself. That she’d hurtyou.”

She hesitated then. She could almost see it. Cordelia, with her pristine exterior, her gilded life. Of course she would believe she was entitled to anything she wanted. Even Blake.

“Hannah,” Blake said. “You know me. You know how I feel about you. Do you really think it’s all been a lie? Do you think, this entire summer, I’ve been stringing you along?”

She thought of when he kissed her beneath the waves. When they had had sex for the first time, her body thrumming with alcohol and desire. Something flickered within Hannah then. A small, certain part of herself that saidno.She could not believe that all of that had been a lie.

At least, she did not want to believe it.

“Hannah,” he said. “I don’t want Cordelia. I wantyou. I’ve always wanted you.”

And there it was. The thing that Hannah had so badly wanted to hear, even now. Even with her eyes still red and raw from crying over him. That flicker turning into a flame.

“I want to be with you,” he said.

“It’s really over between you two?” she said. Her voice was smaller than it had been a few minutes ago. Quieter. “You promise?”

He stepped toward her. Placed his wineglass down on the kitchen counter.

“I promise,” he said.

He was nearing her now. Reaching out toward her. Hannah held out one hand to stop him coming any closer.

“You have to prove it to me,” she said. “You have to show me I can trust you.”

“Yes, of course,” he said. “Of course.”

“How?”

He faltered at this, one arm still extended toward her.

“I… how?”

“Yeah.” She folded her arms across her chest. “How will you prove it?”

“I…” His hand dropped down. “I just… I will. You have to let me show you.”

“By telling people that you’re with me?” she said. “No more hiding. No more sneaking around. If you’re serious about this—about us—you’ll tell people we’re together.”

“Yes,” he said. “Of course. I can do that.”

She was speaking in a way that she hadn’t known she could. Demanding things she had never thought to ask. She lifted her chin, emboldened.