Book 3 The Summer I Turned Pretty -

He stepped closer. Close enough that she could smell his sweatshirt—salt, cedar, something underneath that was just Conrad . His hand hovered near her arm but didn’t touch.

The bonfire on Cousins Beach was smaller that year. Not because there were fewer people—Taylor had dragged her new boyfriend, and Steven had brought a girl from UVA who laughed too loudly at everything. No, it was smaller because the heart of it had split in two.

Her heart slammed against her ribs. “What does that mean?” book 3 the summer i turned pretty

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, squared her shoulders, and walked back down to the fire.

And before Belly could say the thing she’d been holding in her chest since she was ten years old— It’s always been you, it’s always been you, why can’t you see it’s always been you —Conrad Fisher walked back into the dark house and closed the door softly behind him. He stepped closer

Three summers ago , she thought, I would have been sitting right between them.

“Because I’m the one who walks away,” he said. “That’s my job. That’s always been my job.” The bonfire on Cousins Beach was smaller that year

Belly’s chest ached. Susannah’s empty chair in the living room still had her favorite blanket draped over it. No one had moved it. No one could.