“You know how people are, Atlas. They say one thing and mean another. They promise forever and disappear the second it gets complicated. It’s easier to keep people at arm’s length. One-night arrangements are easier. It wasn’t like either of us expected anything. Everyone went home in the morning with no drama.”
“Is it easier? Or is it just safer?”
The question lingered between us, and I didn’t know how to answer.
“You’ll never know who the right person is if you keep thinking your way out of it,” Atlas continued. “You can’t logic your way into love, Mar. Trust me on this one.”
I looked at her and remembered the contentment in her eyes and the way she glowed when she talked about Carmen.
“Is that how Carmen makes you feel? Like you don’t need to overthink everything?”
“Exactly.” Her smile brightened. “She makes me want to be brave instead of smart. There’s a difference, you know.”
Brave instead of smart, I repeated in my head.
The phrase stuck.
And annoyingly, my mind wandered unbidden to somewhere it had no business drifting.
Dark eyes and a nervous smile. Kelechi.
The way she’d frozen when our fingers brushed over that textbook. The way she’d bitten her lip without realising. How she’d bolted for the shelves as if I had set the floor on fire.
I hadn’t meant to tease her that much.
Okay. Maybe a little.
But there had been something there. Something alive. Something that made me smile every time I replayed the whole thing in my head.
She’d noticed me noticing her, and I could tell by the way she stumbled over her words, the way her cheeks flushed, that beautiful deep red. And when she looked at me, I could tell she was caught between understanding and escaping.
It was… interesting.
Too interesting.
“You’re thinking about someone,” Atlas said.
I blinked. “What?”
“That look.” She pointed at my face. “You only get that look when you’re mentally dissecting a person.”
“Maybe,” I admitted. “I don’t know. It’s just someone from class.”
Atlas’s grin widened instantly. “Ah. There it is. ‘Just someone.’ That’s always how it starts.”
“Relax. We’re partners for a project. That’s it.”
“Mhm.” She didn’t sound convinced, and I found myself smiling despite my best efforts.
Atlas’s eyes lit up. “Oh, my God.”
I groaned. “Don’t start.”
“I’m not starting anything. I’m celebrating that you actually care about someone.”
“I don’t,” I said automatically, then kicked myself internally for saying it.
Atlas just stared at me.
