Page 72

“I missed you,” he said near her ear.

“I missed you too.”

He eased her down and bent to kiss her. A white girl coming out of the classroom slowed beside them before her friend caught up with her. Farther down the hall, a Black student lowered the campus newspaper he’d been reading.

When he lifted his head, he asked, “How was class?”

“Long. I kept looking at the clock.”

“Me too.” He ran his thumb along her waist. “How much time do you have?”

“A little over an hour.”

“Good. We’ve got time to eat.”

She nodded and leaned up for one more kiss.

He caught the strap of her backpack as it slipped down her shoulder. “Here. I’ll take that.”

“Thank you.”

She put on her coat while he slung her backpack over his shoulder, and they started down the hall together.

“What do you feel like eating?” he asked.

“There’s a Greek stand outside. I was thinking about getting a gyro.”

“Sounds good. I’m hungry as hell.”

“So am I. I barely had time for breakfast.”

He pushed open the heavy glass door, and the cold reached her before she stepped through it. Nicole fastened her coat over her sweater while he zipped his jacket. So much for hoping it had warmed up during class.

Students hurried along the paths with their shoulders hunched and their hands buried in their pockets. Near the entrance, two girls stood over a shared notebook, one holding down the pages while the other wrote. Dry leaves scraped across the pavement and caught against the brick edging of a flower bed. Drew took her hand, and they headed toward the food stand.

“I’m glad we could do this,” she said.

He looked down at her and squeezed her hand. “Me too.”

She’d felt closer to him since Sunday night, and that hadn’t gone away through two days of not getting nearly enough of him. Even on the phone, she’d wanted to keep talking after they’d run out of things to say.

The smell of meat and onions cooking hit them as they joined the line. Behind the counter, a man folded pita around a heap of shaved meat and passed it to a waiting student. At this point, she would have happily taken it straight off the grill.

A pair of girls standing ahead of them glanced over their shoulders. One recognized Drew first; Nicole could tell by the smile already forming on her face. Then her eyes dropped to their joined hands and jumped up to Nicole.

Nicole looked right back at her, and the girl turned toward the menu again, leaning closer to her friend. It was then her friend’s turn to steal a quick glance back.

Drew bent his head toward hers. “You still getting the gyro?”

“Mm-hmm. And fries.”

“Good call.”

She stepped up with him as the line moved, still holding his hand.

By the time they left the stand, she had a gyro in one hand and a paper cone of fries in the other. Drew had both backpacks and his own gyro, and he’d taken a bite before they were even out of the line.

Nicole bit into hers and slowed to keep the filling from spilling onto her coat. The pita was soft and warm, the meat crisp at the edges under the cool tzatziki. Lord, she’d needed this.