The air was cool with night as we emerged. If he’d worn a jacket, I would’ve borrowed it. Instead I rubbed my arms. He came up behind me and took over, briskly churning heat as he whisked his warm palms over me. Oh, so much better than a borrowed coat!

“So, home?” he asked, setting his jaw.

“Kiss for the sake of kissing,” Kori had told me. Why make it more than it is. And that’s what I’d decided I needed to do with Shay. I wasn’t going to worry about all those things niggling at my conscience. I just wanted to kiss him.

“Nope, one more stop. The quintessential date place.”

One eyebrow curved up. “Just to get your mom back?”

“Of course.”

He held the door open for me. “Okay, just so I know I’m being used here.”

“Yeah, best keep that in mind, cowboy,” I said with a wink.

We were quiet in the truck, until I pointed out the turn and he read the sign. “Landfill? Are you sure about this?”

During the summer, the dump was Kismet’s notorious make-out place. “Yeah. Hopefully, it’s not too late in the year.”

“For trash?”

Just as he said the words, the truck bounced over the potholes of the last bend in the road. The dump appeared in front of us and the reason we were there became obvious.

Two rotund black bears were fighting over what appeared to be a container of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese.

“For bears.”

My heart hammered in anticipation of our first kiss. It was like standing on the ledge of the dam again. But I wasn’t exactly buzzing. With Shay, sometimes it felt like we were two bolts of tangled lightning. I waited for him to make his move. But he was sitting quietly, entranced by the comical antics of a chubby cub.

“He’s cute, isn’t he,” I said. Then I got up the courage to turn to him and ask, “Remember how you told me you thought your being here was fate?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you really believe that? I mean, in fate?”

“Yeah. Don’t you?”

I shook my head.

“Why not?”

“Besides the fact that Destiny is my mother’s name and that I live in a town named Kismet and every time I turn around someone is shoving it down my throat or copping out by using it as some lame excuse?”

“Yeah, that’s not good enough. What’s your real reason?”