Pigpen grins at me when he opens a door but then puts a finger to his lips. “We’re running late and they just said they’ll kick anyone out who makes a sound.”

The world moves in slow motion when we walk into the back of a darkened auditorium. On the lit-up stage are two tables full of people and in the middle is one person explaining rules of how the academic competition will play out.

My heart stops and I’m frozen in place. At the end of the table is long raven hair and the most beautiful face in the world. It’s Breanna and I almost drop to my knees when a burn hits my throat and eyes.

“You okay, brother?” Pigpen asks.

“It’s Breanna.” My voice is rougher than it should be.

Pigpen cups the back of my head. “You showed faith in us and we came through. Her parents have laid down some serious rules, but if you follow them, that girl is yours as long as she still wants you.”

I nod and join Pigpen in a seat in the last row and sit back and watch something I wasn’t sure I’d ever see—Breanna on stage, showing the entire world how her mind works.

Breanna

I CAN’T STOP touching Razor.

Not that we can really touch—not in the way he touches me in my dreams, but at least we’re touching and he’s here and he’s looking at me and we’re still together.

On a blanket at a park across the street from my private school, Razor and I hold hands. He’s been catching me up on what’s been happening at school, with Violet, Oz, Chevy and Emily. Nothing he says is too detailed. He speaks in generalities as my older brothers are also sitting on the blanket staring at Razor like they would happily toss him into a meat grinder.

But I don’t care... I’m touching Razor.

My parents are at the picnic table full of fixings from KFC. Chicken, mac ’n cheese, mashed potatoes. Name it from the menu, it’s there. All courtesy of the Reign of Terror. Across from them are Razor’s dad, his girlfriend and Rebecca. Eli and Pigpen are playing kickball with my younger siblings.

Razor squeezes my hand, then clears his throat. “Mr. Miller?”

Talk about epically weird. Razor from the Reign of Terror just properly addressed my father and I try to stymie the silly grin on my face.

The picnic table falls silent and my father answers, “Yes?”

“Can I take Breanna on a walk? I’ve been watching the joggers and there’s a loop that runs along this place.”

I hold my breath with each second of awkwardness that follows. It’s extremely obvious they’d like to scream no, but instead Dad says, “We’ll be keeping an eye on you.”

Yes! Razor stands and I waste no time accepting his hand to help me up. I glance back at my parents and I wonder if the smile on my face is insulting. The thought causes some of the joy of this moment to falter, but then Mom offers me a soft encouraging lift of her lips.

“Thank you,” I say, and Mom nods a “You’re welcome.”

We’re quiet as we walk on the path and there are a million thoughts in my mind. All the things I’ve been dying to tell him, all the things I’m dying to know from him, and then this nagging fear that maybe he doesn’t fully feel the same way I do, that maybe this road is going to be too difficult for us to navigate, that... “Forty percent of long-distance relationships break up and seventy percent of long-distance relationships fail when there’s a change in plans.”

Razor’s lips tug up and he rubs his thumb over my hand. “Then we’ll have to make sure we have a plan in place in case plans change.”

I giggle and Razor chuckles.

“I read up on it,” I say. “In case my parents did let me see you again.”

“Are you happy here?” He doesn’t look at me when he asks and I wonder what he wishes my answer would be, but then I chastise myself for thinking such things. Razor craves the truth.

“Yes. It’s, oddly enough, still high school and there are still high school problems, but the classes are phenomenal. It’s like mind crack without killing the brain cells.”

“Good.” By the way his blue eyes soften, he means it. “Good.”

“Did you ever doubt this moment would happen?” I ask. “Being together again?”

“Did you?” He turns the question around to me.

It somehow feels like a betrayal to admit I had no idea if we would stay together.

“I was scared I’d never see you again,” he admits. “That once you got here, you’d change your mind about me.”

“Never. Just never, but, yeah, I was like you. I wasn’t sure if it would happen or if you would have second thoughts.”

A quick squeeze of my fingers. “Never.”

We near the spot where the path is engulfed by the neighboring forest and my heart quickens. No one can see us here. No one will know what is done or how we do it and—

Razor moves, lightning-fast, and my breath rushes out of my body. One arm encircles my waist, the other caresses my face, and in a moment that feels like an eternity, he lowers his head and brushes his lips to mine.

Everything inside me explodes. Our mouths move, tongues dance, hands explore and we soon remember the precious and delicious parts of each other. Heat builds, but it’s the emotion that causes me to go weak.

The way Razor’s palms frame my face, the gentle way his hands run through my hair and the reverent way his fingers skim along my back. It’s as if he’s kissing me like I’m a dream, as if he doesn’t believe I’m real.

A buzz of Razor’s cell and we break away. He’s breathing hard and so am I. A glance at the message. “Pigpen says your brothers think we’re taking too long.”