My brow furrows. I know nothing about Val-d’Or, or any town in the Abitibi region, for that matter.
Karan smiles. “Nine of us graduated. Not much competition, you know.”
“Oh.”
“So…” Karan shifts his arm a tad, enough for the fine hairs on my forearm to feel his. I hold back a shiver. “I was right about how you could use a break.”
“This is a break.” I gesture around us, keeping my left arm in place so I don’t break our closeness.
Karan smirks. “Want some company?”
“You’re offering?”
“No, I’ll call my roommate so he can hang out with you.” Karan rolls his eyes. “Of course I’m offering, Rachel.”
“Just making sure.” I slip a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “There are probably a million better things you could be doing on a nice Saturday morning instead of hanging out with someone like me.”
“Someone like you?” Karan looks at me, puzzled. “And what would that be?”
When he moves his arm away to cross them in front of his broad chest, I stifle back a soft whine.
“I dunno.” I look down at the mirror-like surface of the water, thinking back to everything I’ve been called throughout high school. “Quiet. Nerdy. Boring. Goody-two-shoe.”
“Hmm.” Karan relaxes his stance. “So, in other words… Introspective. Smart. Grounded. Honorable. Yeah, no, I can’t think of a better way to spend my Saturday morning.”
A warm flutter spreads through my stomach. Maybe there is something there after all.
By the time we make it back to the residences, I’m exhausted and sunburnt. The whole day has passed us by, and it’s almost midnight.
I can’t stop giggling. And it seems like Karan feels the same, because his shoulders won’t stop shaking.
I’m not sure why. Neither of us has said anything particularly funny in quite a while. But maybe, after a full day of walking along the canal, eating ice cream, checking out the cute shops, enjoying local foods, talking about everything and nothing, andlaughing so hard Karan snorted his slushie up his nose, we’re both a little giddy.
Or delirious from the sun.
We walk up the stone steps of the residence building, our pace slowing as we near the door. Once inside, we pause in the hallway.
I don’t want this day to end, but we both have homework and studying on our to-do lists tomorrow morning.
I hate the idea of parting ways with Karan.
He just… gets me. He sees me, unlike anyone else ever has. Even the asshole I dated in high school, who ended up cheating on me anyway, never made me feel the way I feel now.
I turn to him and shyly twirl a strand of hair. “Thank you for distracting me today.”
He turns, and we’re so close our chests almost touch. I can detect the warmth emanating from him. He smells good, despite all the time we spent out in the sun. And the way he’s looking down at me…
“Anytime,” he says.
Neither of us move. The air is so thick you could cut it with a knife. An urge to rise on my toes and close the distance between our lips weaves it way through my skeleton.
But I could never. What if I’m reading this all wrong?
No. I need to let him make the move.
“So…” Karan backs away, and I try not to let my disappointment show as he fishes something out of his pocket—his phone—and hands it to me. “You should put in your number. So we can do this again.”
“Oh. Yeah.” My neck and cheeks warm up as I fumble with his phone and input my contact details, handing it back with an awkward shove. “There you go. Just… text me, and I’ll have your number, too.”
