“Starving. Thank you.”
The subtle smell of coconuts hits my nostrils as she closes in, then her presence burns into my back. “Oh. Are you Mr. Hunt?”
Henry turns and looks up at her.
I hold my breath when the next words out of her mouth are, “Wait. Do I know you?”
Fuck.
Henry blinks, and I close my eyes. How the hell did I not think of this? Of course she’d recognize him from that day he took a bus to the park.
Shit, shit, shit.
“Yeah ... weren’t you—”
I push back my chair so fast I haven’t even worked out what I’m doing before I’ve done it.
Blue gasps when she spots my expression.
I trap her gaze with mine before glancing at Mr. Everest. “Sir, may I be excused for a moment? There’s something I need to ask Blue before I forget. It’s about our English assignment.”
Tim shrugs from his spot at the head of the table, thankfully more focused on loosening his tie than my weak excuse to get Blue alone. “Yeah, sure. Just don’t take too long.” He pats his stomach and offers a lighthearted smile. “I’m wired to eat at a certain time.”
Henry catches my eye, looks between me and Blue, then turns back to Mr. Everest. He shifts in his seat, a light sweat building on his forehead. He looks so uncomfortable, for a second I think he’s going to make a run for it. But when he takes a calming breath, I know he’s got my back.
“So Tim,” he starts, “in one of your emails, you mentioned something about the new governor elective ...”
My pulse is thundering when I find Blue’s eyes again, but I hold them steady. She’s innocent. I know that. But if she blows the lid on this, it’ll ruin my chances of staying here and graduating for good.
Like I said, that’s not an option.
Blue
Joshua crowds me, his tall, broad frame a giant wall dividing me from the others. The heat radiating off him is so warm I don’t know how a shiver manages to run through me.
His head is angled down, his gaze locked on mine, and when he inches forward, I inch back.
Soon, he’s somehow cornered me in the living room where no one can see us, and my back hits a wall. A softclicksounds behind me, and I realize he’s pushed me up against the coat closet door without even touching me.
My cheeks burn as I stare up at him. With his lips so close they almost brush my nose, butterflies swarm in the pit of my stomach, but a burst of bravery also hits me.
“It’s good to see you too, Joshua,” I breathe.
A corner of his lips twitch, but he swipes a palm over his mouth, wiping the expression away. “Listen, I really need to—”
“Tell me how good it is to see me too?”
“Blue ...” he starts, but the word trails off like he doesn’t know where to take it. He rubs the back of his neck instead.
My chest beats faster than a hummingbird’s wings every time he says my name. I want him to say it again. Sometimes, like when he looks at me the way he is right now, I think he sees me as naïve. Inexperienced. Fragile. The thing is, I’m not as innocent as he thinks, and the sensations thrumming through me this very second remind me of just that.
“A little bit, though, right?”
He squints at me like he’s contemplating.
I bite my lip to hide my smile. It feels good to be daring with him. Maybe he’d feel it too if he allowed himself to go with the flow instead of overthinking everything. Must be exhausting.
“Fine,” he mutters. “Maybe it’s not so bad seeing you either.”
