Falling Like Leaves (Bramble Falls, #1)

by Misty Wilson

“Good. I wouldn’t have wanted you to be heartbroken forever,” I tell him. I lean in until our noses touch, the air between us shared, my heart thrashing like waves in a storm. Cooper’s breath hitches. “But are you still over me?” I maneuver my lips closer, sliding both hands around his neck as I press my body closer to his. He lets out a groan and backs away, the sudden loss of his heat leaving me cold, stunned, and baffled. “I’m not going to kiss you.” “Oh.” “Not because I don’t want to,” he clarifies. A humorless laugh escapes him. “I’ve wanted to kiss you again ever since the first time.” “But…?” “But it’s already going to be hard enough when you leave next month,” he says. His muscles are rigid and resolute, and I’d drop the subject if he said he didn’t like me back. If he weren’t interested. If I were reading his signals all wrong. But he’s just scared and trying to protect his heart. And I have no plans to break it again. “We can figure it out.” I take a step toward him, closing the distance between us. “I’m not going to ghost you again.” In the pink glow of my necklace, Cooper’s conflicted eyes dart between mine. Finally he cups my cheek in his soft hand.