The Kiss That Launched 1,000 Gifs (25 page)

Esme grin grew into a smile. “There’s that Latin fire that was missing when Phillip broke up with you.”

“Shut up.”

“Just sayin’.”

They sat in silence for several seconds before Esme sighed. “So what are we doing here, Grace?”

“You’re the one who drove here.”

“You’re the one who’s obsessed with the woman Ash may or may not be kissing here,” Esme countered.

Ah, yes. The brunette. Where was she? Grace’s eyes scanned the areas surrounding the three volleyball courts and tried to find brown, curly locks. She wasn’t seeing any right away.

“Uh, Grace?” Esme said, a split second before someone knocked on Grace’s passenger-side window. Grace literally jumped in her seat before turning to see what appeared to be a teenage girl motioning for her to roll down her window.

“What do you want me to do?” Esme asked, looking a little too amused for Grace’s liking. “Run her over and make a getaway, or roll down the window?”

“I
told
you people would notice us,” Grace said before sighing and rolling down the window herself. “Can we help you?” she asked the girl.

“Funny,” the girl said with a smile. “I was about to ask you the same question. You’re here stalking my uncle, aren’t you?”

Next to her, Esme let out a treacherous laugh that left no room for denial. They’d been caught. They hadn’t even been in the park sixty seconds or gotten out of the car, and they’d been caught.

Knowing her face was flushing red, Grace cleared her throat. “Megan?”

The girl nodded.

Esme unlocked all the doors. “Get in, Megan. But only if you’re willing to drop dirt.”

“Dirt’s all I’ve got,” the girl said before moving to the back door and hopping in.

Esme smiled at Grace and mouthed the words,
I like her
as Megan moved to the center of the back seat and leaned in between them.

“I was hoping you might show up,” the teenager said.

Well, wasn’t this quickly topping Grace’s list of most mortifying experiences.

“Why is that?” Esme asked.

The girl shrugged. “Sometimes Instagram pics just aren’t enough, am I right?”

Esme actually threw her head back and laughed while Grace resisted the urge to cover her face. She wanted to go. Now.

Esme turned in her seat to face Megan. “And Ashton Miller is your uncle?”

Megan shrugged. “Yeah. Although he basically raised me. It’s a whole story, but the short version is, yes, Ash is my uncle.”

“Does he make you come to his volleyball practices?” Esme asked.

“Not really,” she said. “I usually find other things to do, but today was his first day back to Thursday night practices and I thought that something might happen, so I came.”

Grace kept slinking lower in her seat while Esme kept talking.

“What does Ash usually do on Thursday night?” she asked.

“Latin dancing classes,” Megan said, as if that was totally normal.

Grace sat up straight in her seat and turned to look at Megan. “Latin dancing?”

She nodded. “For two years now.”

“Wow,” Esme drawled, looking at Grace. “Just… wooooow.”

Megan grinned. “He’s going to be so pissed that I told you that.”

“Yeah,” Esme said through a chuckle. “I imagine he’d prefer you hadn’t, but it’s awesome that you did.”

“Latin dancing classes?” Grace repeated. “For two years?” That meant that smooth dip he’d pulled off during their kiss hadn’t been an accident. It had been honest skill he could repeat.

“Don’t mind her,” Esme said. “She’s a bit slow at the moment.”

Megan smiled. “I hear you’re a good dancer, Grace.”

“It’s how I paid for college,” Grace said, staring across the park at a shirtless Ash standing in a box of sand. She’d always known he was pretty, but that body could dance?

How had she gone all this time without knowing that?

“What about this woman?” Esme asked, showing her phone screen to Megan. On it was the picture that had been haunting Grace for days: Ash with the brunette.

“Jess?” Megan said.

“Yes, Jess,” Esme said. “What do you know about her? Is she competition for my girl here?”

Megan looked from the picture to Grace, her smile seeming to go from ear to ear. “So you like my uncle? For real?”

Even though the question was asked lightly, Grace felt like Megan deserved an honest response. “Is it okay with you if I do?”

Megan didn’t hesitate. “Definitely. He’s liked you for a long, long time.”

Esme’s eyes narrowed protectively. “How can you tell?”

“He can’t date anyone seriously,” Megan said, pointing at Esme’s phone while looking Grace in the eye. “Jess is one of the few who has straight up confronted Ash about his crush on you. I think that’s why they’re still friends. They went on a few dates like a year ago, and Jess liked him enough to listen to your show. After listening, she was curious enough to sit him down and talk straight with him.”

“And you know this how?” Esme asked.

The girl shrugged. “I spend half my nights at my uncle’s place, and I eavesdrop.”

Well, okay then.

Grace’s heart started pounding, and she was beginning to feel a little lightheaded.

“But Jess is with Abe now ,” Megan said with a shrug. “They’ve lived together for like six months.”

“Then why is she taking pictures like this with Ash?” Grace asked, trying not to sound jealous.

“A pity selfie?” Megan offered. “I mean, you totally dissed my uncle after that kiss you two had on that stage. I think Jess picked up on the fact that you’d lit a match on his hopes and dreams and did what she did to see if you would do something stupid like show up here and confront her.”

Esme was laughing. No sound was coming out of her, but Grace could see her shoulders shaking as she held it in. Here they were, sitting in Esme’s SUV, getting schooled by a teenager who seemed to have 20/20 goggles on the whole situation. But how could a teenager Grace had never met have sensed that Grace would show up here tonight when Grace hadn’t even known herself?

“I can save you that confrontation, though,” Megan said. “If you talk to Jess, she’ll tell you that my uncle is awesome and you’re an idiot if you don’t give him a shot. And that really is the truth. He’s not perfect—trust me, I know that better than anyone—but he is awesome.”

“Megan?” Esme said.

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to replace Grace as my new best friend? You’re kind of my favorite person right now.”

“Hey,” Grace said, giving Esme’s arm a playful hit.

“What?” Esme said playfully. “She is. And if Ash helped raise this ball of sass, then I’m going to date him if you don’t.”

“You will
not
be dating Ash,” Grace said with force.

“Then you’d better step up, Grace,” Megan said, her expression serious for the first time. “Because there isn’t a person on this planet who isn’t telling my uncle to move on. And he’s starting to listen.”

“Including you?” Grace asked. “Are you telling him to move on?”

Megan pursed her lips, clearly choosing her response carefully. “I’ve been quiet on the matter. You just barely broke up with Phillip. I get that. But I also get that my uncle has a lot to give, and he shouldn’t waste that on someone who doesn’t want him.”

“I want him,” Grace said before she could stop the words from flying out of her mouth. To her left, she saw Esme’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise at her frankness.

“I know,” Megan said as if Grace hadn’t just made the most terrifying confession of her life. “And you’d be good for him. So what do you need from me?”

Friday

Grace had been smiling all day.

Ash liked her. He’d liked her from day one—with an intensity that had sabotaged other potential relationships for him.

How was that not awesome?

Almost as awesome as that little firecracker he called a niece. Holy cow, where had she come from? Precocious was an understatement. The girl was a tour de force. Megan was everything that was right about feminism in Grace’s opinion, and Grace wanted to see where a kid like her ended up in life.

But to do that, she needed to finish this last show and get Ash alone. It was time the two of them had a little chat.

Grace glanced up at the clock, noting it was 3:57 pm… three minutes until news and traffic took over the airwaves for the last time. She glanced at Ash across the table from her, like she had countless time before, and felt her chest tighten.

He looked the way he always looked. Casual, moderately ruffled, and happy. His blue eyes met hers across the table and he gave her a small smile of encouragement.

“It feels so weird to say this, but this is it,” Grace said into her mic. “These are the last few minutes of our last show. I’m going to miss spending my afternoons like this.”

She’d been trying to play it cool… trying to keep their shared looks and exchanged barbs the same as they’d always been, but the closer it got to 4:00, the more Grace’s heart pounded.

In her mind, she had it all planned out. The station was having an informal goodbye party for the show in the conference room at 4:15. Once the show was over, everyone would head there, but Grace would hold Ash back in the booth for a minute. And when it was just them, she would walk toward him slowly and kiss him. No words, not at first. Just a kiss. She’d wait until they pulled apart to say what she wanted to say, which would hopefully be something along the lines of Ash, I really like you and want to date you.

Who knew how well her brain would be working after kissing him, but she was hoping she would be coherent enough to pull off something along those lines. According to Megan, these words would be the beginning of a summer romance that would never truly end. Sure, the kid was only fifteen. There was no way Megan could know what the outcome of anything would be; yet something about the look in Megan’s eyes as she’d made the promise had made Grace a believer.

And she couldn’t wait.

Across from her, Ash was talking into his mic. Probably because they were still broadcasting, and according to the clock Grace had been daydreaming for at least the last sixty seconds.

“If you’ve learned nothing else from Grace and me,” he was saying, his blue eyes looking at her like she was the only woman in the room… which she was, but details shmee-tails. “It’s that maybe both people can be right, even when it seems like you’re disagreeing on the surface.”

“But mostly the woman’s right,” Grace added, ruining his thoughtful moment.

“Yes,” he said with a courtesy smile. “Men should learn that no matter what they say the woman will always assume that she is right.”

“And a woman is also wise to remember that men aren’t always as dumb as they look,” she said playfully.

“Just as a man is wise to remember that just because a woman changes her mind, that doesn’t change the fact that she’s right.”

Grace threw her head back and laughed. “Couldn’t have said it better myself.”

When she looked back at Ash, he was watching her with a smile on his face that got her heart kicking and her palms sweating. She was minutes, if not seconds, away from kissing that beautiful face.

Ash glanced at the clock and let out a sigh. “We’re down to twenty-seven seconds, Grace. Any final words?”

“We love you,” Grace said, without hesitation. “We’re going to miss you more than you know, and want to thank you for your support and for letting us be a part of your lives. It was an honor and a pleasure, and we hope your life is better for it.”

“Ditto,” Ash said in his Clooney voice. “Grace and I will miss this chance to spend time with you. But we won’t be far. You can catch me on The Morning Show starting Monday, and start seeing more of Grace on your afternoon and evening news, where she will bring you the day’s biggest stories.”

“So until then,” Grace said, her heart pounding so hard that she was starting to worry the mic would pick it up. “This is Grace—”

“—and Ashton—”

“Signing off one last time. News and traffic is up next. But first, here are some of our greatest hits.”

Frank took her cue at the sound board and played a mashup of fan favorite moments from the past two years. It was oddly emotional to watch her mic light blink off for the last time.

The Battle of the Sexes was over. Grace would never sit in this seat and argue with Ash again. But if things went as planned, she would still be—

The sound of clapping interrupted Grace’s thoughts as Frank walked into their recording space, followed by Jan and Emily.

What were they doing here?

Everyone was supposed to be gathering in the conference room in fifteen minutes. In Grace’s mind, this show had ended like every other show she and Ash had—with them, alone. But people were appearing and they were clapping and smiling like they thought their appearance was a good thing. Grace knew she was supposed to be smiling back. She hoped she was succeeding, because every part of her wanted to shoo them out.

This was the part where she was supposed to kiss Ash and lure him onto a date. But she couldn’t do that when people kept filtering into the room. Like Erik. Why was he there? And Layla. Didn’t she get off work two hours ago? And why did Layla have a plate of cupcakes? Did she not listen to the show at all, or was she being ironic?