She laughs. “Then he wants you to kiss him. Trust me.”
She sounds so confident, I almost tell her about how Killian already made a move but I shot him down, and that things have been weird ever since. But I don’t, because I’m still not sure how I feel about the whole thing, and lately whenever Mel sticks her nose into my relationship business, things just seem to get an awful lot more complicated.
Killian and I work in silence for most of the morning, communicating primarily in grunts and hand signals. We’ve been working together long enough to get a routine down, going through the motions on autopilot. I feel Mel watching us out the office window and avoid making eye contact with her.
Finally, after our third trip back from the canoe launch, Killian runs his hand through his hair and takes a deep breath. “Okay, Vee. I can’t take it anymore.” He hops off the trailer and falls dramatically to his knees, clasping his hands. “I’m sorry for trying to put my arm around you and making things awkward, and I promise I’ll never do it again if we can just go back to the way we were.”
Relief floods through me, mixed with just a tiny bit of disappointment. All he wants to do is go back to the way things were?
“How were we?”
His eyebrows arch in surprise. “We were friends.”
I nod and reach down to pull him to his feet. “We’re still friends.”
“Okay, good.” He heaves an exaggerated sigh of relief, his whole body relaxing. “Because I read this fascinating article about all the different varieties of really intensely hot chili peppers a couple of days ago, and I’ve been dying to tell you about it.”
I smile and motion down to the water, where a group of people has just landed at the end of their float. Killian’s voice washes over me as we each grab the end of a canoe and tip it upside down to dump out the murky river water, then carry it back up to the trailer and load it on. It’s like the floodgates have opened up inside him, and he can’t stop the flow of conversation. Killian strides happily across the pine needle–covered ground for the rest of the afternoon. I’m happy to be wrapped back up in the cocoon of his words.
Mel runs outside at the end of the day and grabs my hand. “You two look like you’ve been having fun,” she whispers in my ear. “I told you so. Invite him to the party.”
“What’s the point of inviting him to a party I’m not going to?” I look around to make sure Killian isn’t within earshot.
“It doesn’t even start until, like, ten on Friday night, Vee. What are you going to be doing with your dad then?” Mel nudges me, watching as Killian reaches up to secure a canoe strapped on the top rack of the trailer. His shirt rises, revealing the tan abs I’ve been trying to ignore all summer, and I feel my resolve weaken.
“Well, maybe I can come,” I say. “But that day is Kaylee’s birthday. I still have to get her a present, and I’m definitely going to have to go over to my dad’s house for dinner that night—”
“Just figure it out.” Mel pokes me in the side. “I’m heading to Seth’s now, but I’m refusing to take you with me, so you have to ask Killian for a ride. It’ll be the perfect chance to invite him.”
“Mel—” I reach for her, but she dances away and hurries toward the parking lot, taunting me by jingling her keys as she goes.
“Looks like your ride is leaving,” Killian calls.
“Yep.” I shoot Mel a death glare before turning back to him. “Can I catch one with you?”
“Of course.” He brushes off his hands. “Ready?”
“Let’s go.”
I try not to let the dashboard lyrics distract me, but when Killian pulls off the tarp, I find myself reading through them again, mesmerized by the disjointed phrases and metallic ink.
“Do you want to add something?” His voice jolts me out of my reverie, and he tosses a silver Sharpie into my lap.
“Uh, no. I’m good.” What would I write?
“Yeah, it’s a lot of pressure,” he says, nodding solemnly. “Your words immortalized forever on the dashboard of a shitty Jeep.”
“Oh, shut up.” I drop the Sharpie into a cup holder. “I just don’t have the lyrics to hundreds of songs filed away in my head like some people. Give me a