Connor and I were just going to have fun together. I wouldn’t feel that knot.
Pulse skipping, I dared to take his hand, slipping my fingers between his and squeezing tight. My stomach somersaulted when Connor squeezed back.
“Okay,” he agreed, and when he grinned, I started mentally counting the seconds until he leaned in and kissed me.
Instead, he took a step backward.
My heart sank, and my face must’ve said it all.
What?
“I’m sorry,” Connor said, clearly trying not to laugh. “But I can’t kiss you now.”
My brows knitted together. “Does my breath smell?”
“Yes, like chocolate.”
“My Turtles.”
“Right.” He nodded. “Your Turtles.”
It hit me a beat later. “Oh, no…” I groaned, suddenly wishing Turtles had peanuts instead of pecans. Because Connor didn’t need an EpiPen forpeanuts; he was allergic totree nuts.
Literal distance, I reluctantly supposed, made the heart grow fonder.
Sixteen
It took me ages to fall asleep that night; I didn’t know how Connor’s breathing could be so steady beneath me. Didn’t he feel the current of electricity in the room?
After the kiss that didn’t happen, I ended up reading on the porch while Connor grabbed his lacrosse stick and played catch by himself. He’d set up a pitch back in the side yard, and he cradled the ball so intensely that I wondered if he too had nervous energy he needed to channel. In a way, the movement was mesmerizing. I kept waiting for him to miss the ball.
He never did.
Eventually, I surrendered to sleep, but I lurched awake what felt like only moments later. A phone chimed, but it wasn’t mine. I groaned. “No…”
“Sorry!” Connor whisper-yelled. “I hoped you wouldn’t hear it.”
I didn’t ask why he’d set an alarm for the wee hours of the morning; I simply rolled over, snuggled into the other side of my pillow, and promptly fell back asleep.
But not for long.
My heart reeled when I felt a hand on my arm. “Olivia,” Connor murmured. “Wake up.”
“You’re kidding me,” I replied, though it sounded garbled. But was he? Kidding? Joking? What was with the alarm? Was Connor secretly a nocturnal creature?
After all, hewasimpossible to wake in the morning…
“This is not a joke,” he told me. “This is a drill.”
“I don’t hear the fire alarm,” I deadpanned, begrudgingly pushing back my covers. Sleep had set me free. “Explain.”
“Okay, not really a drill,” he amended. “More like the perfect time to practice.” He gestured out our window, to the shining night sky. “Let’s go flex our stargazing skills.”
“When did Nick mention he was going to grade us?”
Connor laughed as I started down the bunkbed ladder; my body pulsed when I felt his hands hovering only centimeters over my waist, ready to right me if I slipped. Heat swirled through my thin pajamas. The sensation made me shiver.
“Just let me grab a sweater,” I said once my bare feet hit the floor. Our room was a little chilly, and I could hear the night breeze outside. “Where did I—”
