“I better not,” she murmurs. “It would be out of your way to come back over here instead of hitting the interstate to get back to Sugarwood.”

“I don’t mind.”

Why can’t I shut up?

Shit, is this me? Shuffling my feet on the gravel, looking at a girl, and wishing…

“I’ll meet you there,” she finally says, her hands clenching the straps of her backpack.

Does it bother her to imagine being alone in a car with me?

I exhale. “Okay. See you there.”

“Try to keep up with me and Louise,” she calls as she sashays away.

“Louise?” My eyes devour her ass. Shapely. Pert. Perfect. I tear my gaze away.

“My car! Named her after Lou!” She gets in and drives away, and I pull out and follow her.

12

After parking, I turn the corner on the Vanderbilt campus, and she’s already waiting for me. Somewhere in the traffic, I lost her car, and I make a note to be sure I follow her out to wherever she’s parked.

It’s not quite dark yet, so I have a good view, and she hasn’t seen me yet. She’s sitting on the steps in front of a fountain, her head tilted down as she scrolls on her phone. As if she feels me looking, she glances up and pushes a strand of hair out of her face.

“Dude. Why are you just standing there? Come on!” She waves me over.

I huff out a laugh and jog toward her.

“What’s in the backpack? It looks bulky,” she asks, eyeing me.

“Laptop and a surprise.”

“Ohhhh, what is it?”

Her eyes gleam, and now I’m worried she won’t like it.

“Just snacks.”

“Caviar? A good merlot? Perhaps some canapés or cucumber sandwiches?”

“Shut up, Tulip. I brought Snickers and Tic Tacs.”

“Classy.” She grins. “We’ll have to be sneaky—no food allowed.”

I watch her eyes, feeling a buzz in my blood with all the eye contact between us tonight. Usually, over the years, our eyes have met in those short once-overs where we both look away or the long glances from me to her when she’s not looking.

We walk through the open doors of the library and she lets out a little sigh as she takes in the grand foyer, the massive rows of books, the front desk.

I’m watching her—can’t help it. I’m in Ava overload. “You love this place.”

She nods, almost shyly. “It’s a dream to come here. Vandy rarely gives full scholarships, so it’s not likely I’ll be able to afford it, but it would be amazing. They have a killer pre-med program here.” With a deep exhalation, she does a full pirouette and smiles. “Come on, I know where the study rooms are.”

“I get it now. You feel comfortable here and at Lou’s—that’s why you agreed to watching the movie here.”

She shrugs, and I follow her up three flights of stairs until we get to a quiet area—though aren’t they all? This one has cubby areas and small rooms lining the walls. In the middle are tables with students reading or working on their laptops.

She takes the lead and we circle the area while she peers into various rooms.

“All the bigger rooms are taken, so we’ll have to take one of the smaller ones.”

“It’s just the two of us. It will be like we’re in class,” I say.

Only we’ll be alone.

She clears her throat. “Right. This one, then.” She nods at a small space to the right with just enough room for a desk and—

“Dang it. There’s only one chair.” Her arms cross.

“Wanna sit in my lap?” I say the words, but I don’t mean them. It’s a joke. Right?

She flushes. “No. You wanna sit on the floor?”

“I don’t mind. I can drag a chair in here from somewhere,” I offer.

She mulls that over and looks around. Most of the chairs at the tables are taken, and the ones that aren’t have books sitting where a person isn’t.

“We came all this way, and we aren’t just going to give up because we don’t have a chair. The small room is fine. I promise to not touch you.”

“I know. You never touch me,” she murmurs.

A whoosh of air comes out of me, but she isn’t paying attention as she walks inside ahead of me.

“It’s perfect.” I set my laptop on the desk then plop down on the carpeted floor with my back to the wall. “You take the chair. I’ll sit behind you.”

She bites her lips, her hair dipping down. Her eyes glow when she looks up. “You’re so mean.”

“Moi? Why?” I ask dryly.

“Because you brought Snickers and what you really want is for me to sit far, far away so you can eat them all.”

I pull one out and wave it at her.

She snatches the laptop and places it on my legs as she sits next to me on the floor. “Now bring up the movie.” She pauses. “Unless, of course, you’re afraid of being close to me?”

My gaze slides over her carefully, trying not to linger on her bare, long legs, the pink color on her toes. “Fort Knox is afraid of nothing.”

She snorts. “Don’t think I didn’t notice how you didn’t answer my question.” Her legs brush against mine briefly before she scoots over and puts space between us.

“Mmmm.” I click play on Dirty Dancing. Anything to keep her out of my head.

This watching it together thing was your idea, I remind myself.

Several minutes later, I give her a candy bar and take one for myself.

“Yum, dessert. Thanks.” She takes a big bite of hers and smiles.

Shit. Just…shit. Have I ever seen her this close to me, relaxed and smiling?

“No problem.” I look away from her mouth and focus on the movie as Baby tries to dance with Johnny, failing miserably.

Several minutes pass and I pretend to watch, hyperaware of every twitch she makes. Every now and then, her lids lower then pop back open.

“You tired?”

“No.”

I smile at her lie.

“Did you know Kellerman’s is a real place, but it isn’t in the Catskills?” she says quietly as her head leans a little, inches from my shoulder. “I looked it up after you mentioned it in class.”

“Where is it?”

Her gaze refocuses as she blinks. “Virginia, and it’s called something else—Mountain Lake Resort. It looks like a magical place to spend a summer.”

“Where’s your favorite place to vacation?”

She smirks. “Never been out of Nashville, but I’d love to see the ocean some day. Sand between my toes kind of thing. I’ll go when I’m done with college, take Tyler with me. He would flip. Someday.”

I have to look away from her face.

She’s too…sweet.

Vulnerable.

I ease my body away from her, just a few inches. I have no right to be this close to her, not after what I did—

“What was your favorite vacation ever?” she murmurs, interrupting my thoughts.

I don’t even have to think about it. “When I was little, maybe seven, my parents took us skiing in Colorado. They were getting along then, or at least they still seemed like they cared about each other. Dane and I tore up the bunny slopes. Dad loved it too. Mom liked to stay in the cabin and make us hot chocolates when we got back. The snow was beautiful and white and clean. It felt like only good things could happen in a place like that.” I clear my throat. “Honestly, I can’t remember a good vacation since then. My dad started working all the time, my mom was diagnosed with bipolar depression, and then everything else happened.”