Gray: hey beautiful, still up for dinner?
Harlow: Absolutely.
Gray: good :) i’ll pick you up at 6:30?
Harlow: Sounds good. Kai is about to come get me for lunch.
Gray: i know, or i’d be seeing you sooner than tonight
I can’t help the smile that takes over my face. He always seems to know what to say to make me feel better.
After coming back from lunch with Kai, we just get settled into my dorm when there’s another knock at my door.
I open the door and?—
Wren stands in my doorway like a sunbeam that forgot how to be subtle.
Balloons in one hand, a bakery bag and gift bag in the other.
Her bright eyes are full of happiness as she squeals, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEETCHEEKS!”
I open my mouth, but all I can do is laugh.
So Wren does what Wren has always done; she steps forward and wraps her arms around me like she’s claiming space for both of us.
“Hi,” she says into my hair, with her voice muffled.
I laugh, breathless. “Hi.”
I hug her back hard and realize just how much I missed the version of myself that exists around her.
We pull back, and her eyes skim my face like she’s checking for cracks.
Then her grin returns, bright and unapologetic.
“I do think you’ve gotten taller since high school,” she declares.
“I’m not taller,” I deadpan.
“You are,” she insists, then points a finger at me. “Also, you look hot.”
I blink. “Wren.”
“What?” she says innocently. “I’ve been abroad for the last nine months, babe. I speak the truth now.”
I snort, and she beams like she won.
Then I remember a very important detail, and my stomach drops.
“Kai,” I say quickly.
Because Kai is?—
I glance over my shoulder.
And there he is.
Standing near my desk like he was mid-sentence in whatever he’d been about to say.
