“Only fair.”
“Only fair,” he agreed.
He lifted his arms, his nose still resting against mine as we stared at each other. As the shirt passed over him, it gave us a second to fully realize how much of our skin touched. Nervous, exuberant energy vibrated between us.
“We don’t have to do anything else,” I say. “Not tonight.”
After a moment, he nodded, a breath escaping his lungs. I watched his chest as it dropped beneath my hands. Running his tongue over his lips, he seemed to relax, eyes looking me over, as if he were caught in a dream.
“Okay.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
Because every little piece of this, right now, felt like a dream. Almost. But of course, it wasn’t, and that was what made this second, these minutes, this moment in time all the more magical.
He ran his teeth along his bottom lip. “Staring again?”
“Well, I know how it gets you going.”
Looking down toward his feet, Ryan chuckled and tipped his mouth back against mine.
Definitely not a dream.
17
Campus was oddly quiet as we set up, turning a few heads as students passed by to make their way toward the SUB. People’s eyes stuck to the table before they carried on, so that was a good sign. Right?
“I wonder if anyone is going to care if we’re standing there. They’re probably going to think we’re insane.”
“Eh, there are worse things.” Ryan shrugged, completely at ease.
Stacking another row of fresh lavender sachets, Ryan tilted them just so, as if he were a happy shopkeeper.
I watched each movement, completely at ease when, at any moment, there would be a stream of Barnett students crossing the usually busy walkway where we were now set up. “And here I thought you would’ve reached your quota of crazy at this point.”
With his other hand, he reached around my shoulders and pulled me toward him, lifting my chin up. I stared at him straight on, looking at his tanned freckles. “And here I thought you’d be sunshine and optimism.”
“Definitely one thing you got wrong about me.”
He smiled against my mouth as he tilted his head down. “The rest makes up for it.”
I whacked him gently in the chest.
Already, he looked mighty pleased with himself.
We’d mainly stuck around Gertie’s for the entire weekend. The two of us finished the final touches on the dozens of things now set up along our folding table. I showed him the greenhouse outside and the other little magic places in Gertie’s home. He had taken particular interest in the vines Ana had once fallen from after climbing back through the house late one night when she locked herself out. He admired the tiny stained glass windows that were hidden all over—from the crescent moon above the doorway to the bright stars and poppy flowers high up in the attic, which Ryan proclaimed was properly suited for any average ghost to casually haunt.
Faith would be thrilled at the assessment. She herself continually asserted she could feel a presence whenever we sent her up to get ornaments for the tree each holiday season.
I watched as people began to flood out of the academic buildings surrounding the main quad of grass in the middle of campus. I took a deep breath. “Here we go.”
Ryan rubbed his hands together. “Let’s do this.”
Dozens of people started to walk by us. I tried to force a smile to draw them in. At the very least, they could pause and purchase any of the soaps, spells, or little bundles of herbs and help us be one step closer at last to making Samhain happen. All I needed was for even half of the things on this table to go to make a dent in decoration supplies, snacks, and the rest of the things I remembered from my notebook that I deemed absolutely necessary.
A few glances turned our direction as distracted students coming out from class veered around the table, where they, on any other day, aimlessly walked ahead.
“Don’t worry,” Ryan assured next to me. He reached out to squeeze my hand, and warmth traveled up through my arm at the small gesture. “We just need one person to get it rolling.”
