{WATTYS 2021/2022 SHORTLIST}{Editor's Pick} {Featured Story}
One girl. Two boys. An impossible choice.
Stella LaFever, a theatre student from California, can't wait to spend a summer in Newport, Rhode Island, with her best friend. She is in despera...
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We passed by mansions with sprawling gardens and Victorian fountains before rounding a curve and pulling into the narrow parking lot of Brenton Point State Park. It was a gorgeous open space overlooking the Rhode Island Sound, where waves crashed against giant rocks.
West unbuckled his seatbelt and took off his helmet, and I did the same. He raked a hand through his messy hair to smooth it back, then leaned in close, letting me take a deep breath of his deliciously woody cologne.
"You recognize that place?" West asked, pointing towards one of the vast cliffs off in the distance, surronded by ocean mist. I squinted, realizing I could just make out the shape of Castle Hill Inn.
A strange mix of swelling happiness and overwhelming disappointment washed over me whenever I thought of my first night in Newport.
"I haven't stopped thinking about you since the night we met," West told me. "It might sound stupid, but I've thought about your smile half a million times." Goosebumps pebbled over my skin. "You gave me the confidence I needed to audition. You did something to me that night."
His words were everything I wanted to hear. Everything I'd dreamed West Tenney would say to me in that quiet place between wakefulness and sleep.
Slowly, I turned towards him. He was so close. "And what am I doing to you right now?"
Another crooked grin. "I think we both know the answer to that question."
Waves crashed against the bluffs. A car zoomed down Ocean Avenue, and a warm breeze lifted loose strands of my hair. West leaned in an inch closer, and a thrill raced down the back of my legs.
Our date had only just begun, and all I wanted him to do was kiss me right here in this tiny red car and never stop.
West unbuckled my seatbelt before popping open his door. "Come on. I wanna show you something."
Unlike Spencer, who always seemed eager to put his hands and mouth on me, West seemed tentative. I wasn't sure if it was nerves or the fact that he was less...experienced with women than his best friend.
Either way, it made me want to touch him that much more.
We walked shoulder to shoulder through the grass until we came to a white and green truck selling shaved ice. I'd seen these same trucks along the beach but never tried it. To be fair, Leona and I had been enjoying boozy popsicles more than anything else frozen here in Newport.
"Have you had a Del's yet?" West asked as we approached the truck. I shook my head, and West laughed. "Time to fix that, newbie. It's a Newport staple."
A minute later, we each had a cup of lemon ice that lived up to the hype. It was so good that I dribbled juice down the front of my chin and onto my dress.
West wiped the edge of my chin with his napkin, following the trail slowly down my throat until he got to the low neckline of my dress. I watched as he concentrated, his pretty brown eyes hidden behind the glasses.
