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He laughed again. His blue eyes looked so pretty when they lit up like that. And those perfectly handsome lines of his face—an artist should put those on a sculpture somewhere. Being this close to him felt surreal, like stepping into a scene she’d replayed a hundred times—except now that it was real, she had no idea what to do.

“I’m sure that eventually,” Marlowe added, “my mother’s coworkers will stop trying to give her advice on how to redeem me. Personally, I blame my bad behavior on the media, the entertainment industry, and artificial food dyes.”

“Same here.”

“I doubt you have any bad behavior.”

“I do. But the benefit of having an identical twin who’s a known prankster is that I can claim Lucas was pretending to be me. You’d be surprised how many times people believe it.”

“That wouldn’t work on me. I can tell you apart.”

His eyebrows raised in disbelief or at least in question. “Even when I’m not wearing my glasses?”

She probably shouldn’t have admitted to that. She tried to turn it into a joke. “Yes, because I’m observant and good with faces. Not because I’m president of the Jace Clark fan club. I mean, it was a close election, but I lost.”

He smiled, a wide grin. “Better luck next year.”

She wanted to keep staring at him. “Like they say, third time’s a charm.”

Another laugh. “Is that how long you’ve been running for office?”

Definitely. From the first day of freshman year when she’d seen him, she’d been a dedicated contender. She winked at him. Where had she gotten the confidence to wink at Jace Clark? “Only my diary and I will ever know.”

“Now I want to read your diary.”

“And one day after I become wildly famous, I’m sure my children will publish it so you can. You’ll just have to outlive me.”

He looked upward in mock thought. “I’d make that a new life goal, but wishing an early death on you seems wrong.”

“This is why you’re way nicer than Mr. Copley. He had no problem wishing an early death on me. Multiple times.”

Jace leaned closer and his voice turned serious. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. I bet you’ll think twice about sticking up for the next person.”

“Sadly, I probably won’t.”

“Not sadly.” His gaze on her felt warm and intimate. “Admirably.”

She really did have a stupidly large crush on him because right then everything she’d been through seemed worth it just for this compliment from Jace.

Neither of them said anything for a moment. The two just looked at each other. Finally, she realized that if she kept staring at him, she’d give her feelings away and then her comments about running for president of his fan club would seem stalkerish. He probably already thought she’d overshared about her parents and Mr. Copley.

She shrugged. “I didn’t mean to unload on you. I’m sure you’re waiting for someone.”

She glanced around the hallway to see if any of his friends were walking toward them. No one seemed to be paying attention to them.

“I have been waiting for someone,” he said. “I think I’ve been waiting for you.”

Her eyes snapped back to him to see what he meant. She expected a smirk, something to indicate he was teasing. But he was only regarding her with a hopeful expression.

“You’ve been waiting for me?” she repeated.

His smile turned embarrassed. “That sounds like a cheesy pick-up line, doesn’t it? I should’ve thought of a better way to ask for your phone number. It just popped out.”

She blinked at him, processing all of this, which was probably why he added, “So… can I have your number?”

“Yes, and for the record, I loved the I’ve been waiting for you line. Really swoon-worthy.” She gave him her number, half surprised that she even remembered what it was.

She’d been so deliriously happy that day. So thrilled each time he messaged her. And the first time he kissed her…