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  When it got really quiet and the only sounds we heard were the insects chirping, I yawned and stood up. “I guess I’d better start cleaning.”

  “I’ll help,” Parker said.

  “It doesn’t seem fair that you always help with the cleanup when you’re the one who provides the place for the party,” I said, as we walked into the house.

  “I promised Mitch that I’d take care of the place,” he said.

  “That’s right. Responsibility is your middle name.”

  “First name, actually.”

  I looked over at him and laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  It was really, really quiet in the house. “It feels like we’re totally alone here,” I said.

  “Can’t be.” He went to the front door, looked out. “Jordan’s car is still here.”

  He walked back through the house. “This way,” he said.

  I followed him to his bedroom. And just like Goldilocks, Jordan was curled up on Parker’s bed asleep. Well, not exactly like Goldilocks. Her boyfriend was snuggled up against her, both fully clothed on top of the covers.

  “I thought she was hitting the drinks pretty hard,” Parker said.

  “Can you take me back to the dorm after I help you clean up?” I asked.

  “Sure.”

  It didn’t take us long. Paper plates and cups into the trash. There were never any leftovers. Put a few dishes into the dishwasher, wiped down the counters.

  I was standing at the sink, staring out the window at the lake, having just rinsed out the dishrag, when Parker came up behind me, put his arms around my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder.

  “I TiVo’d one of my dad’s movies. Want to watch it with me?”

  I looked back at him. “Now?”

  “Sure. You can sleep late in the morning, right?”

  “Yeah, but don’t you have to get up early?”

  “I don’t need much sleep.”

  I shrugged, watched his head bob up with my movement. “Sure, I guess.”

  We went into the living room, sat on the couch. He put his arm around me, nestled me up against his side, turned on the TV, went through the TiVo menu, and selected a movie I’d never heard of.

  “I’ve never seen this one.”

  “It’s one of his better ones.”

  I watched the opening credits. “Sandra Bullock? I guess you know her, too.”

  “Yep.”

  “And she’s just a normal person.”

  “They all are, Megan.”

  It was a romantic comedy. We were about fifteen minutes into the movie when Parker said, “You know, the thing about my dad’s movies is that they’re more entertaining when watched from a horizontal position.”

  I snapped my head around and looked at him. “Are you making a move on me, Parker?”

  I thought he would smile, laugh. Instead he looked deadly serious.

  “Yeah. Do you have a problem with it?”

  Did I? I shook my head.

  We laid down on the couch with me nestled against his side, my back against the couch so I could still watch the movie, but it suddenly wasn’t making any sense to me. I’d lost the flow of the story, mostly because I was thinking about how nice it felt to be snuggling against Parker.

  “I’ll take you to the airport Friday,” he said quietly, tucking my hair behind my ear, over and over, like it was attempting to escape from the place where he’d put it. It felt really nice.

  “You’ll be working. I can take the shuttle.”

  “I can take a couple of hours off. No problem.”

  “Okay. Thanks.”

  “When do you get back Sunday?”

  “Late.”

  “Time?”

  I smiled. “Around nine.”

  “That’s not late, Megan. I never go to bed before one.”

  “It’ll feel late to me after the busy weekend.”

  “You will come back, won’t you?”

  “Of course. I have half the summer left to go.”

  “Will you see Nick while you’re there?”

  “I wasn’t planning on it.”

  He was still tucking my hair behind my ear, studying me. “You ever think about getting back together with him?”

  “No.”

  “That’s good. Look, Megan, I didn’t want to rush you, I didn’t want to push you. I know you were hurting, but I don’t want you going home without knowing exactly what’s waiting here for you.”

  He lowered his mouth to mine. Finally, after all this time, he was kissing me again. And I was kissing him back.

  Glad that we were moving beyond the just-friends stage. Glad to know that what would be waiting for me was something that I desperately wanted.

  Parker…and his kisses.

  Chapter 25

  “So have you slept with Parker yet?” Sarah asked.

  I was standing in front of a mirror, making sure the gown I was going to wear tomorrow fit properly, trying to see if it needed any last-minute adjustments. Her question took me totally off-guard and I wasn’t exactly sure how to answer it.

  Had I slept with Parker? Yes. After an incredible kissing session on his couch Wednesday night, early Thursday morning, we’d fallen asleep. So yes, technically, we’d slept together. But I knew that wasn’t what Sarah was asking.

  “You know, Sarah, it’s really none of your business.”

  “You have, then.”

  I rolled my eyes. “No, I haven’t, not like you mean.”

  “Are you dating him?”

  “We spend a lot of time together.”

  “I knew he liked you,” she said. “And that you liked him.”

  “He’s not the reason I broke up with Nick.” I shook my head. “Or Nick broke up with me.”

  “It doesn’t matter, Megan. I just want you to be happy, and you seemed really happy whenever you were around Parker.”

  “I do like him, Sarah. I like him a lot. It’s just so natural to be with him. I can’t explain it, but I’m so dreading the end of summer.”

  “That’s weeks away. Don’t sweat it. It’ll work itself out. Besides, we have enough to worry about this weekend. What do you think of your gown?”

  Her brow was deeply furrowed, and she was nibbling the French manicure off one of her nails. I couldn’t tell her the truth.

  “I thought the bridesmaid’s gowns were supposed to be purple—”

  “That’s what I thought chartreuse was. I didn’t know it was the color of puke.”

  “Let’s call it green with a hint of yellow. Sounds better.”

  Although her description was pretty accurate. She’d ordered the gowns through a catalog. The gown shown had been blue, with the other colors available just listed. I couldn’t believe she’d ordered what she hadn’t seen. They’d arrived yesterday. No time to send them back. What had she been thinking?

  “It doesn’t look that bad,” I said.

  “I ordered purple irises for the flowers in the church. My bouquet has purple in it. Yours has purple in it.”

  “It’s probably got green, too, right? Stems and leaves. So it’ll match the gown.”

  Then she did the most unsettling thing. She started crying.

  I knelt in front of her and put my arms around her. “Sarah, it’s all right.”

  “It’s hideous. Your gown is hideous. Everything is going wrong.”

  “I hear it’s good luck for your wedding to go badly. It means the marriage will last.”

  She looked up at me. “You’re just trying to make me feel better, right?”

  “Yeah.” I squeezed her hand. “Honestly, the gown isn’t that bad. At least I don’t look like Gretel and I don’t have to wear my hair in braids.”

  She laughed. “That’s true. I just wanted everything to be perfect, and instead, I’m just ready for it to be over.”

  “Tomorrow will be here before you know it.”

  “If we survive tonight.” She scrunched up her face