doesn't pull back.
"This was the guy you went out with?" Billy laughs. "Okay. This is kind of strange.”
"Is it?" I say, my eyes on Kourtney. "Because I don't think it's strange. I think it's pretty damn perfect."
Kourtney
Okay. Trying not to freak out, like completely freak out, because I'm standing here, holding hands with Kaden. The guy I thought I messed everything up with. And yet, here he is, looking at me. I mean, really looking at me.
Billy is also three feet away. So that's not weird.
"I guess the coincidence gets a little stranger," I say, "because my boss is Josh Jones."
"My Josh?" Kaden says. "Like, Josh, Josh?”
I laugh. "Yeah, like Josh and Jessa. Like Jessa, who makes the best blueberry muffins in town, Jessa. And Josh, who met her and fell in love in twenty-four hours?"
"Right," he says with a smile. "Hashtag relatable."
I cover my face with my hands. "Oh my God, I cannot believe you just hashtagged this moment."
"Why?" Kaden asks. "You know you wanted to."
"Maybe," I say. "I mean, is this weird?"
He shakes his head. "No, it's not weird to me. But I can't believe we're both here.”
I swallow and start to speak, but then close my eyes. "Do you think we could take this somewhere? Like, where my brother isn't a few feet away?"
Billy laughs. "Hey, why don't you give me your keys, sis? I'll drive home and you can get a ride with my boss."
Kaden laughs. "Sounds good to me."
I give my brother my keys. "Drive safe."
"I'm an adult. Remember?"
"I know, but…"
"I know. You love me."
"I do."
Billy leaves and I try to inhale, exhale, without freaking out because this is real. Really happening.
"Are you happy?"
"Uh-huh. Little bit," I say with a shaky laugh.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to take you back to the lookout.”
"The problem wasn't where you took me," I say. "I just got a little freaked out because a girl like me and a guy like you…"
"…are a perfect match?" he asks, finishing my sentence.
"I wasn't going to say that exactly."
"But it's true," he says, stepping closer, wrapping his arms around me, tilting my head, my chin, and pulling me in for a kiss. "This is pretty damn perfect."
"Mm-hmm,” I say softly. “It is."
His stomach growls mid-kiss.
"Are you hungry?" I ask.
He laughs. “Kourtney, I'm goddamn starved."
Chapter Six
Kaden
We stop and get tacos to go with chips, guac, the works. When we pull up to my house, Kourtney turns to me.
"You live here?" she asks. "It's gorgeous."
"Well, I dropped you off at your place last night and it was pretty nice too."
"Yeah, but that's my dad's place."
"You still live at home?"
She nods. "Yeah. After my mom died, I thought my dad needed someone around, so I moved back home and helped with my brother, and, well…” She lifts her shoulders high. "I haven't left. I think at this point, my dad is probably ready to move on and my brother is going to leave for college soon, and I don't know, maybe it's time for me to move on too."
I smile. "Maybe it's time for you to move in."
Her eyes go wide. "Oh my God. This is the second day I've known you."
"Too fast?"
"Maybe," she says, laughing, then she throws her hands up in the air. "Or maybe not. I mean, Josh and Jessa knew each other for a day and then they were like, the rest is history."
"Actually, I think it was a week."
"Maybe," Kourtney says. "A day, a week. Does that matter? All I know is sometimes people fall hard and fast."
"Sometimes they do," I say back, loving the way she looks when she smiles. I could stare at her all day, all night. I lead her inside my house and she seems comfortable here, kicking off her shoes next to mine and running her hand along the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. Smiling at the framed photos of me and my sister and mom on the wall.
"You're like a real grown-up," she says.
"Yeah,” I chuckle. “And are you a real grown-up?"
She turns to me. "Yeah. I mean, except for the fact I still live in my childhood bedroom, but in other ways, yes. I have a job and I pay my bills, and I… I don't know. What makes someone a grown-up?"
"I don't know. I think it's probably overrated, whatever it is,” I say, running my hand over her back.
"Yeah," she says. "I look at my brother and think these are the years he needs to hold onto, when there are no worries, no problems. Everything