“Of course,” Alex said matter-of-factly. “I mean, I knoweverything.” He paused. “But he doesn’t, Lily. He thinks you’re pretending for the press.”
“Which was his ridiculous idea!” I whisper-exclaimed. People were looking at me now, but I didn’t care—it was too late to care. “I’mnotpretending.”
Alex put his hand on my back. “You should try telling him that.”
“Okay, well, this is me trying,” I said with a hammering heart, but before I could defiantly burst out of my chair, Alex’s hand moved to my shoulder and gripped it tightly to keep me seated.
“Miss Hopper, you’re currently detained.”
I groaned and shook him off. “And we have no one to bail us out.”
“You meanyouhave no one to bail you out,” Alex said, casually standing up. “I am free to come and go as I please, since I do not actually have detention.”
“God, I hate you,” I said, laughing.
Alex shook his head. “I don’t believe you.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because,” he said, “you’ve got Tag’s favorite smile on your face.”
The wind whipped and whispered to me once I’d rushed down the science center’s marble steps after detention.Don’t let him,it said, the words coursing through me like the ocean’s current.Don’t let him count you out.
For the last several hours, all I could think about was my conversation with Alex. He was right; Tag’s and my communication skills were terrible. We had to stop skirting around the truth, no matter how scary it was. I couldn’t let another night pass without telling him.
Ames’s student music festival had been tonight, but the stage was abandoned by the time I blazed through the Circle. People still filled the Adirondack chairs and hammocks, though. I spotted girls in plaid miniskirts, baggy jeans, plastic chokers, and long hair twisted up into double buns. This year’s theme had been a throwback to the nineties.
My lungs were writhing in pain once I made it to the three willow trees that cornered Grundy House. Their branches blew in the breeze, toward Alex and Tag’s window. Light streamed through the stained glass, and I could hear Dave Matthews and multiple voices trying to talkoverDave Matthews. Just because Tag couldn’t have outside visitors didn’t mean his housemates couldn’t come to call. My guess was they’d ditched the music festival in favor of hanging here tonight.
But nothing would wreck my plans. I exhaled, then sucked in a deep breath before leaving the trees and darting through the bushes to the wooden step stool. “Password?” Alex shouted after I knocked on the window. The other guys chuckled.
“Guys, shut up,” I heard Tag say, his voice sounding so close. “It’s Lily.”
Blood now pulsing in my ears, I was suddenly at a loss for an opening line when the enormous window squeaked upward, so I trusted the first thought that came to mind: I grabbed both sides of Tag’s face and pulled him toward me. It wasn’t until our lips were mere inches away from each other that I caught the scent of spicy cologne. Familiar, I realized, but not intimately familiar.
NotTag-familiar.
My heart dropped in horror as Alex pleaded, “Please don’t kiss the messenger.”
Stifling a scream, I pushed him away so hard that he fell back into his room to reveal Tag and two friends, all staring at me. Tag not only stood shirtless in old paint-splattered khaki shorts, but he also sported the classic Stetson he’d bought in Montana and a pair of gold boots that could’ve only been a gag gift from Alex. They looked more Wonder Woman than Wild West, but that was neither here nor there—shivers went up my spine. “I like ‘cowboy,’” I remembered him saying the night of the prank. “Cowboys are loyal.”
Stevie meowed me back to the moment, slinking across the room to weave through Tag’s legs. I blinked to see the boys still gawking at me, as ifIwere the one wearing a Halloween costume. “Okay,” I said slowly. “We’re going to forget thiseverhappened.” I paused, gathering courage. “But we’re also going to do itagain.”I tilted my head at Tag, fighting a laugh. He looked absurd. “And this time, someone else is going to answer the knock.”
All four boys nodded, and the second Alex closed the window, they sprang into action. I waited three heartbeats, then raised my fist to tap the glass. The person on the other side wasted no time in opening the window.
“Hey there, cowboy,” I said once we were face-to-face.
“Howdy,” Tag said back, and I felt my heart still when he laughed. It was like time had stopped. He now looked even more outrageous in an inside-out T-shirt, but at the same time, he’d never been more handsome—his broad swimmer’s shoulders, those eyes like emeralds, and the way his hair fell across his forehead.
Everything in me melted. Taggart Swell, Taggart Swell, Taggart Swell! I wanted to shout his name from the center of the Circle. Because I loved him. I loved him from my head to my toes, fully and faithfully—and dare I say it,forever.
But none of that came out of my mouth. I was too spellbound to speak.
After a few moments, Tag cleared his throat. “What are you doing here?” he asked, nervousness rippling through his voice.
With that same ripple, I answered, “Making it count.”
Tag kissed my cheek. Just a simple, sweet, delicate kiss, but it was enough—enough to twist my heartstrings. I wanted to kiss him. I so very badly wanted to kiss him.
