Summer boys were made for outgrowing places like this, but I wasn’t. Every time I was with him, it was so easy to think of him as just a boy, but he wasn’t, was he? He was just another memory waiting to happen.

I switched the subject. “What do you miss about New York?” I wanted to gauge his reaction, see how homesick he was. Or … if he wasn’t.

He shot me a half smile. “There’s always a twenty-four-hour place open if you’re hungry. And when you look out your window at night, it’s like you have the whole galaxy of stars looking back at you. Grabbing the subway with your friends, getting really good food whenever you want it … yeah, I guess I miss that.” He looked at me almost shyly. “But I’d take a few real stars over thousands of sparkling lights any day.”

My heart expanded. The way he was looking at me was all too real, all too tender. No one had ever looked at me like that before. Not Elodie, not any of the guys who tried to hit on me when I was behind the counter.

“And of course, the coffee here is better than anything back home,” Levi added.

“There’s no way that’s true.”

“I’m telling you that it is,” he said softly. This time, it didn’t take an accidental graze for us to touch. His hand hesitantly reached out, his eyes on mine the whole time.

I curled my fingers around his, tiny thrills springing up my wrist. “Careful,” I murmured, before I could think better of it. “Any more flattery and I might just hold on to you for good.”

“Maybe I’d let you.”

We stood in silence, savoring the rare breeze that blew our way. It was balmy and warm and did nothing to alleviate the wetness on my brow. Using the back of my free hand, I smoothed it backward into my hair.

From here, the town of Oar’s Rest resembled a labyrinth of houses and a warren of winding streets. Colorful paint peeked out, everything bright and happy like in a storybook.

“It’s beautiful here,” he said.

I hid my ridiculously happy grin. “Yeah, it is.”

Birds arced above us. The salt breeze drifted toward us, and the sand, smoothed by the lacy waves of the tide, shimmered with flecks of mica.

I chanced a peek at Levi. His face was serene, tipped upward. Maybe without my friends, I should have felt bereft, but I didn’t—not with him here. The thought brought an unbidden smile to my lips. Embarrassed, I tamped it down. It felt wrong somehow to be happy in this moment when things seemed so irreparable with Penny. I pulled my hand away from him under the pretense of messing with my ponytail.