Page 196 of Wild Like Us

Yeah.

It’s definitelynota sign that Akara and Banks are going to choose each other.

Not a sign at all.

I hate being superstitious, but I fixate on Jane’s thunderstruck little sister. She hugs the flowers to her chest with a swoony look.

I laugh andmylittle sister darts away, bouncing on her feet to congratulate her best friend.

Akara finds me by the round table near the dance floor as I lick cake crumbs off my fingers. His smile reaches his eyes as he lands by my side. “You can take the girl out of the wild. But you can’t take the wild out of the girl.”

I suck icing from my thumb and then slug him in the shoulder with my free hand.

He barely moves. “I rest my case.”

“Hey, it’s not good cake unless I’m licking each little crumb off.” I look him up and down, about to ask how things went with Michael Moretti, but his expression shifts to utter affection as he cradles my gaze. I slowly pull my thumb from my mouth, my pulse double-beating. “Kits…?”

We’re interrupted by an MC on the mic. “All those beautiful couples, come onto the dance floor. This is your slooooow jam.”

Unchained Melodyby The Righteous Brothers begins to play, and I back up from the edge of the dance floor where Akara is in a frozen stance.

His eyes only rest on me.

As couples join hand-in-hand and singles drift away, the dance floor becomes more open, and I notice Banks standing by himself only a few feet from Akara.

He turns his head, his eyes on my eyes, and I breathe harder, looking between Akara and Banks.

Banks and Akara.

As the most romantic fucking song plays, this is the part where the girl runs into the arms of the man she loves. Where I pick who I want to be with.

Instead, there is just an aching longing to run towards both.

We all seem to be breathing in at the same time, and I break the synchronicity and find Winona again. My fifteen-year-old sister leans against the dessert table where there’s a massive chocolate turtle spread. I slip my hand in hers.

She smiles and dragsmeonto the dance floor before I can drag her. We twirl each other, passing Akara and Banks, but I feel their eyes on me the whole time.

I can’t forget them.

I’ve tried all night. And a huge part of me never wants to forget. Forgetting them means forgetting how they make me feel. And I always,alwayswant to remember.

51

AKARA KITSUWON

Once the receptionbegins to end, Sulli tells me she wants to go home instead of crashing at the hotel. Tonight, nothing sounds better than being far away from all of these people. Away from everyone. Everything was simpler in Yellowstone.

My responsibilities bear back down on me here, and I’m tempted to just sideline them for one more night. Tomorrow will be a different day. But I can let those worries roll off my shoulders for a handful more hours.

As wedding guests leave the gardens and trickle back into the stone mansion, creating a slow-moving line through the stained-glass double-doors, I find Banks saying goodbye to an uncle at a dessert table. Nothing but crumbs and half-eaten coffee cake left.

Once his uncle leaves, I tell Banks, “I’m taking Sulli back to her place.”

She’s currently hugging her parents one last time, and I left a temp to watch her for a minute.

Banks glances to her, and he downs a glass of sparkling water, which I know he hates. “She choose you, then?” Pain already grips his voice.

My muscles tighten. “No.” I laugh under my breath. “Almost the opposite, actually.” I spread out my arms. “She asked me if I thought you’d want to come with us back to Philly.”