Chapter 31
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Jess is still sleeping when I answer the knock at our dorm door.
I glitch, doing a double take. “Hello?” I know I heard something, but no one’s here. I search the hall, glancing left, then right, and finally down.
My heart skips a beat.
On the floor there’s a bag of Sour Skittles, a stuffed rabbit, and a small, red box. I bend down, collecting the items, then step back into the dorm. My fingers trace the edges of the gifts, my mind struggling to catch up.
Today’s the anniversary of my dad’s death, and the first year I suspected I wouldn’t be getting anything from Mom to mark it.
I’d accepted that moving away would mean the end of one of our most sacred traditions. I’m an adult now. Time to say goodbye to things like that.
But, as much as I tried to ignore it, as the date grew closer on the calendar, the ache reappeared anyway, real as a heartbeat. Quiet. Waiting.
Is it possible this was Mom, after all? That I was wrong? But how would she pull this off from so far away?
Or could it be…
Banks.
The answer comes to me at once. A coincidence. His timing couldn’t be more perfect.
After our date two nights ago, he must’ve decided to surprise me. Or maybe he realized, even without me saying so, that I needed something to cheer me up.
My eyes linger on the rabbit too long. I had one as a kid, not really similar to this one, but there’s something about it that makes me feel safe. Warm. At home.
I open the small, velvet case and stare down at the bracelet, my heart lodged in my throat. There’s no way this was Mom’s doing—she couldn’t afford anything quite this nice.
It’s simple, almost fragile. Delicate. A fine line of silver adorned with tiny diamonds that catch the light in soft flashes. It’s exactly what I would’ve chosen.
Already, he knows me so well. Or maybe I’m just easy to please.
Will’s words from before crash into my brain. He thinks I’m too shy to tell people what I want, but that’s not true. He doesn’t get to decide who I am.
I brush a finger across the bracelet gently, tears stinging my eyes. I wish I could tell Banks how badly I needed this, but today feels sacred. Just mine. I’m not ready to explain it to him yet.
After I get dressed, I hook the bracelet around my wrist and fire off a text.
Meet me for coffee at the cart?
I don’t wait for his answer before I tuck the stuffed rabbit against my pillow and head out the door.
The quad is already bustling. Two guys pass me with earbuds in, talking loudly over their music. A group of girls lingers off the path, heads down, looking at something on a phone. Professor Atwater smiles at me, waving a few fingers as she takes a sip of her coffee.
Banks’s gifts have made everything brighter today.
Except that when I see him, he doesn’t look bright at all. He’s sitting on a bench waiting for me. The corner of his left eye is swollen—gray and purple.
I stop in my tracks. When he notices me, pink splashes across his face. He looks down, then turns his head so, for a moment, I can’t see the bruise.
“You should see the other guy,” he teases as I approach, finally meeting my eyes.
The joke lands all wrong. My skin itches as if I’ve run into a cobweb.
“What happened?” I step toward him, hovering my hand over the bruise. This wasn’t there the last time I saw him.
He stands to escape my scrutiny and shakes his head, answering too quickly. “I walked into a door last night after I’d taken my contacts out. It looks worse than it feels.”
“Well, it looks awful.” The words slip out, and I regret them the instant they’re in the air. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”
He gives a soft laugh. “It’s okay. I’m glad you texted.”
Oh yeah. That reminds me why we’re here. I brush my hair back from my face, making sure to show off the fact that I’m wearing the bracelet. “Well, I had to say thank you.”
His brows draw together. “Thank you?”
“For the bracelet.”
His eyes flick to the bracelet for just a second.
“And the rabbit…” My words seem to fall down a set of stairs. Was I wrong? Were the gifts not from him? Maybe Mom sent them after all. An embarrassed grin twists my lips. “They weren’t from you, were they?”
His face is serious and stoic for a beat too long. Then he cracks a smile. “Got ya. Do you like them?”
Relief floods through me. “You really shouldn’t have, but yes. I love them.”
He presses his lips to my cheek. The memory of our kiss after the date flashes in my mind. It was a nice kiss. Probably perfect actually. Careful. Polite. Gentle. And now I’m wishing I could kiss him again, but when I start to lean in, he speaks.
“We should get you a coffee then, too, hmm?”
I swallow, brushing off the attempted kiss he didn’t seem to notice.
“What time’s your first class?”