V

thinking

rs always found my necklace when nerves started creeping in. How they danced when I was thinking too fast for words. How my voice so

t just lo

sa

stop wondering... wo

that magnetic pull, the ease, the way my name sounded different when he said it. Maybe he was just one of those people.

evaporated the second I

was

nt, holding two cups of chai, like it was the most casu

.. it

ething shifted inside

you," he said, offer

the way my pulse skittered.

grin that made my knees feel le

but my heart trippe

and something sparked there. Something

u'll

d-it was warm. He never rushed to fill space with meaningless noi

nhouse behind the art building. Overgrown and wrapped in ivy, sunlight stre

lair?" I asked, stil

creaky door. "My hideout. No

armth. The way the air shimmered with green and gold. It

I asked, the words ba

Really looked. "Because

eath c

ga

t was it

y hanging leaves. Dust floated in beams of sunlig

your mind works. The way you don't play

mmering. "Then why do I feel li

cause I'm still figuring me out too. Bu

hat, the air bet

arg

ea

r. Our knees brushed-and

hair from my cheek. His fingers lingered, warm and steady. His

he kiss before

caught. His face was so close I could

en... h

t of he

f inte

e barely audible, "I want it to be the momen

y body leaned forward instinctively. My hea

didn't

back, slowly, ey

yet,"

felt louder than

idn't sound l

ed like a

uch-but we didn't need to. His jacket still hung around

illion questio

t have t

mile like something h

use i

dn't k

g in me had a

the ones that burn and hover and a