The Summer Girlfriend (Heart Beach, #1)(78)
“I’ll be right back,” he said quietly.
Noelle nodded and inhaled deeply, tucking her legs underneath her. She felt like she was standing at the edge of a cliff, and she was either going to jump and hope she landed somewhere soft, or she was going to back away and never know what lay below. She wanted to be more than just friends with Jeremiah. But would trying for more be a mistake? She didn’t know what to do.
She grabbed her phone and opened her text thread with Tati.
I think I’m about to do something crazy, she texted.
Tati responded immediately. Hook up with Jeremiah?
Noelle blinked at her phone. How did you know?
Because I know you and I know that you like him. He’s all you talk about lately.
Noelle bit her lip.
Would it be crazy tho? she asked. Like a big, big mistake?
Girl, no! If anyone deserves a summer romance, it’s you.
But we agreed to be friends and he’s paying me to be here. What if it gets complicated if we try to make things real?
Talk to him about it. Tell him how you feel. If he cares enough about you (and he’d be stupid not to), you’ll work together to figure a way forward.
Noelle smiled at her phone, grateful for her best friend. Thanks for the advice. Love you.
Love you too! I want all the deets after you get the D!!
Noelle laughed and covered her face with her hands. She lowered them as Jeremiah reentered the room, this time holding two steaming mugs.
“We only had peppermint tea,” he said, holding a mug out to her. “I hope that’s okay. It should help warm you up.”
Her heart melted as she gazed up at him. He was so sweet and thoughtful and funny, and despite the walls she’d put up and the reasons she shouldn’t want to get involved with him, he disarmed her defenses just by being himself. And she liked him too much to pretend otherwise. She took a deep breath and stepped off the cliff.
“Thank you,” she said, taking the mug. But she set it down on the ground. “Jeremiah, I want to tell you something.”
“Wait,” he said, standing in front of her. “Can I tell you something first? That’s the real reason I went downstairs. I mean, I wanted to make you some tea because you were shivering, but I also wanted to practice what I need to say to you.”
She blinked as she looked up at him, pulse quickening. “Okay.”
He sat on the bed beside her and took her hands in his. “Is this okay?”
She nodded, touched that he’d thought to ask permission even though they’d definitely progressed past hand-holding at this point.
“I know we have our agreement and that I’m paying you to be here with me, and the goal was to pretend for my family’s sake that we’re in a happy relationship,” he said. “And I know we said that we should just stay friends. But last week, I didn’t tell you the whole story when I said that I liked you. The full truth is that I liked you from the beginning when I first met you at the bookstore. I would have asked you out then for real, but I had the feeling that you weren’t looking to date, and you later confirmed you weren’t, so I held back on my feelings and thought they’d eventually fade away and we’d be cool to keep pretending. But my feelings for you have only grown stronger. I think about you all the time. Whenever you’re around me, I can’t focus on anything else, and I don’t want to. I think that you are one of the most beautiful, kindest, genuine people that I’ve ever met. I care about you so much, and I wasn’t sure where you stood, but knowing that you like me too gives me hope that maybe you want to be more than just friends too.” He paused and gave her hands a gentle squeeze. “But if you don’t, that’s okay. Please know it’s okay. I promise I will shut the fuck up and never bring this up again.”
Noelle burst out laughing at his last line, because it was so unexpected. His worried expression eased into one of relief.
“You’re laughing. I’m trying to pour my heart out to you, and you’re laughing,” he said, smiling as he shook his head. “That’s crazy.”
“I’m sorry.” She attempted to school her features and she inched closer to him, brushing her knee against his thigh. “You don’t have to shut up, because I feel the same way. I think about you all the time. Tati said that you’re the only thing I talk about anymore.” She paused. “But last week I didn’t tell you the full story either. I left out one of the reasons I thought we should just stay friends. The money has been a huge help to me, and this is the first time in a long time that I haven’t had to work myself to the bone. That’s a bigger gift to me than you’ll ever know. Being here with you and getting to know you has made my summer so much better. But the money is also one of the reasons that I feel hesitant about us trying to start something real. Not many relationships start with a contract like ours has.”
“You’re right,” he said, grabbing his phone. “They don’t. Hold on.”
Her brows furrowed as she watched him type something on his phone. “What are you doing?”
“I’m setting up a wire transfer to send you the rest of the money,” he said, and she blinked in surprise. “As far as I’m concerned, the terms of the agreement have been met. We’ve successfully convinced my family that we’re in a relationship. I don’t want the contract to be something that’s hovering over us anymore. You should receive the rest of the money by Tuesday at the latest.” He set his phone aside and met her eyes again. His expression was open and earnest. “Now we have the chance to start fresh. No more agreements. No more payments. Just you and me, for real.”