I shook my head. “I bet it’s groundbreaking.”
“Well, I’d read it first,” Luke said, “before such a sweeping declaration.”
I laughed. “I miss you,” I murmured, even though that was stupid. Luke and I had seen each other at breakfast. I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry, that probably sounds…”
“Would you like to stay over tonight?” he asked.
Would you like to stay over tonight?I ran a hand through my hair, wishing everyone wasn’t right down the hall. But another part of medidn’t care, didn’t care at all. Just thinking of Luke made my heart ignite. He made everything better. Everything would be better when I saw him.
“I mean, you’re allowed to do that, right?” Luke went on. “Sleep over in other houses?”
“Yes.” I nodded. “But we need to get permission.” I’d done it a few times this year to sleep in Nick’s room. All I had to do was text my housemaster, Mr. Fowler.
Luke laughed. “So get permission.”
I let out a deep breath. “Should I bring my sleeping bag?”
“Yeah, plus your pillow.”
“And you’ll handle the snacks?”
“Only if you have a few ghost stories prepared.”
I smiled. “They always were my specialty.”
We were all over each other about two seconds after Luke’s door slammed shut, once the lock had clicked into place. I was still in my coat and tie from the game, so he helped me shuck off my blazer while I unbuttoned his black peacoat. “That was really impressive,” he breathed when it hit the floor.
I kissed him. “Thanks. I’m really good at unbuttoning things.”
“I had a hunch.” He grinned and unknotted my tie so I could ditch my shirt. I grabbed his hat and flung it in some direction. We started to move backward, toward his bed. “Is this okay?” he asked, our hands everywhere. “Or should we leave and go climb onto the MAC’s roof?”
I laughed and kissed him again, remembering what I told him the first night we went up there. Leni Hardcastle and her rite of passage. “Nah,” I said, nervous but also feeling this warm burst inside me. Something amazing was about to happen. “Here’s great.”
Luke tackled me onto the bed. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I nodded, and we both cracked up while we maneuvered his sweatshirt and T-shirt up and over his head.
“Holy shit, you wear so many layers,” I told him.
“Because I get cold easily.”
I grinned. “So high maintenance.”
Luke broke our kiss. “Says the person who clearly has separation anxiety.”
“Undiagnosed,” I said after the next one.
He rolled his eyes. “Uh-huh, sure.”
I hugged him close. “I just like hearing your voice.”
“Me too,” he said. “We have really great voices.”
“We do,” I agreed.
And then we didn’t use them for a while.
“I love you,” I whispered later. “I really fucking love you.”
