“I don’t think you’re recalling correctly.”

“I always recall correctly,” she says as she takes my hand and leads me to the dance floor.

I rest my hand on her lower back while she rests hers on my chest. Gentle guitar strings play in the background as we dance under the stringed lights with other couples.

Under normal circumstances, I’d tease her, whispering to her what I was going to do to her when we got back to our hotel room, possibly even tickle her when she’d least expect it, causing her to squirm.

But instead, I’m holding my breath so I don’t get myself worked up as I try to navigate the flood of emotions I’m dealing with.

“Are you wearing a new cologne?” she asks. “You smell different.”

“New detergent,” I answer. “I couldn’t find the stuff you get, so I grabbed something else. It’s been throwing me off all day.”

“It smells good.”

“Thanks, you, uh . . . you smell nice too.”

“You don’t have to say things just to say them, Ryot.”

“I know, sorry.” I bite my tongue, wanting to ask her how she’s acting so cool about this. I know it was my idea, but now that we’re here, I’m having a really hard time pretending that I’m not fucking screaming in my head for a second chance.

After another two minutes of dancing, the music ends, and JP and Kelsey go to the front of the room. With their arms around each other, JP says, “Thank you so much for joining us for the next couple of days. I promise, this is the only scheduled event other than the actual wedding, so don’t feel like you need to hang out with us every second of every day. We just wanted to bring some of our favorite people up to this beautiful winery for some peace and relaxation. Please feel free to test more wines, check out the pools, take some hikes, or just hang out in your room. We’re just glad you’re here to join us.”

Kelsey kisses his jaw, and together, we all raise a toast to a fun week.

When the night concludes, I press my hand to the small of Myla’s back and guide her out to the cars that will take us back to the hotel part of the vineyard. Since we’re alone, I drop my hand and shift on my heels.

“Nice night out,” I say awkwardly.

“You don’t have to make small talk, Ryot.”

“Got it,” I answer, and for the rest of the short trip back to the hotel, up the elevator, and down the hall to our room, we don’t say another word.

* * *

MYLA

“This was not a good idea,” I say to Nichole as I crouch in the corner of the room while Ryot takes a shower.

“Yes, it was. You need this time with him. You need this closure, or else you’ll never move on, and you know that.”