Page 26 of Your Last First Kiss

“You’ve heard of the haves and have-nots?”

“You mean like the rich and the poor?” He scans my expensive clothing with suspicion.

“Yeah, like that. I was on the poor end of the poor. My mom grew up country. Real country,” I say with a smile, infusing as much twang into my words as I can. “Ashton’s parents grew up a little more refined, so his accent isn’t as thick. But one of his brothers, Preston? When he gets mad, the country boy shines stronger than even mine.”

He smiles, and the anxiety in my chest eases a little.

“I want to be like Ashton when I grow up,” he says quietly.

I ignore the pinch that it causes in my heart. “Oh yeah?”

“He’s honest. And smart. And loyal.”

“He is. All good qualities in a man. It takes more work to always be a good person than it does to be a jerk. But karma is a real thing. Good things usually find their way to good people.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” he grumbles.

I can’t make him believe me. But hopefully someday I can show him.

It doesn’t take long before the specks of snow begin to accumulate, slowing traffic to a near-crawl, but we’re both lost in thought, and the drive north is relatively quiet.

Eventually, I pull off the exit that leads to the sleepy town of Chance Lake at a snail’s pace. The snow is coming in heavy sheets now, causing the streetlights to turn on hours before their scheduled time.

I don’t have a ton of experience driving in this shit, and I have precious cargo onboard, so I make no effort to rush.

GPS directs me through the quiet town until I pull into Penny’s driveway.

“You ready?” I ask quietly, killing the engine.

Kaiser started wrestling with his hands about a mile back. The kid is nervous, but when I open my door and get out, he follows. Happy shouts greet us from across the street. I turn toward the noise and see a handful of teenage boys throwing snowballs at each other.

They’re too far away, and the snow is too thick to recognize features, but there’s no mistaking the sounds of joy coming from the kids.

How often is Kaiser able to be carefree and happy like that?

“That’s Take A Chance, the sporting complex for a bunch of surrounding towns,” he explains. “Thanks for the ride.”

He stalks past me, eyeing my car, and stops right in front of it. “Are you driving back to the city tonight?”

“I was planning on it.” A large snowflake sticks to my eyelashes, and I blink it away.

“In this?” He looks down at my Tesla again, and I nod. “Come on in. I’ll get you the tow truck number just in case.” He shakes his head, and I laugh.

“It does better in the snow than you would think.”

Kaiser looks up to the sky, then back at me. “Not with this kind of storm coming. Honestly, you’ll probably want to think about staying here tonight.”

Logically, I know by here he means in town. But his front door has an undeniable allure, and that flutter in my chest makes it hard to breathe. Jesus, my lungs might actually explode before this day is over.

“I’ll see how it is after I check on Ashton’s house.”

The kid stops with his key to the door and turns to look me up and down. “You are going to check on his house? No offense, but do you know what to do if the heat is out or the roof gets a leak?”

“I promised him I would keep an eye on it. Plus, I grew up with a mostly single mom, Kaiser. I started fixing things around the house before I finished grade school.”

He furrows his brow and faces the door again. “Sorry,” he mumbles. “I just assumed because you grew up with…”

“The Westbrooks have never cared about money. They care about people. It didn’t matter that I was poor. Or that I couldn’t afford the same shoes everyone else was wearing. They’ve only ever cared about me.”