The three adults chatted and I watched for signs of subtle flirting between two of them, but nothing seemed to ping my radar as they discussed the food and beverage options. Scintillating.

I got bored and looked away, my gaze shifting across the street, toward the Christmas Visitor’s Center.

And landed on Brody instead.

He stood almost directly opposite me across Merry Street, but I saw him.

And he saw me.

Mia was beside him, of course. Her arm through his and snuggled up to his side, not unlike I’d wanted to do earlier with Arthur at the café, but hadn’t because we weren’t in that place. While Brody and Mia so clearly were.

Our eyes locked and I felt a stab of so many things at exactly the same time that I couldn’t say which was the most prominent. Maybe nervousness. But, full disclosure, there was also awareness and a prickle of pride that he was focused on me. Which was a hundred percent shallow, of that I was quite aware. And it reminded me of how I’d spent the first months of being his girlfriend, envisioning how other people saw us rather than recognizing what it was actually like to be with him. The overwhelming Brody-ness of it all had taken time to fade. But slowly, slowly it had. Left behind in its once-sizzling place was a boy who didn’t have much to say about current events or history (recent or distant), or movies, and definitely not books of any kind, or much of anything beyond sports, his own summer lawn-mowing business, his hair (which truly was awesome), and his desire to one day be the backup quarterback for the Denver Broncos, mainly to become friendly with John Elway, whom he had once met at a Punt, Pass, and Kick youth camp, where the legendary quarterback told him, “Nice throw, kid.”

It all grew . . . excruciating. And when we reached the point where I didn’t want to make out anymore, I knew something had to give. Which was almost the exact moment when my acceptance packet to Barrington had arrived.

But now, seeing him again like this, and having him watch me, I felt that familiar sizzle go up my spine. Like a habit. Or maybe more of an ego boost I desperately needed.

My first instinct was to look away and pretend I didn’t see him, even if the time for that had long passed. But then I remembered what Arthur had asked earlier: If they were the ones in violation of the universal friend code, why was I the one running away?

He was right. And so I held my ground.

For a moment, it seemed as if Brody was going to wave to me, but then Mia—who hadn’t yet noticed me—said something to draw his attention and he broke eye contact to focus on her.