Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 112892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
“That was… fun.” It took me a moment to find the right word. It had been fun, but also something more.
Cody nodded but didn’t say anything.
Which worried me, even though I knew how quiet he could be.
We turned on to the walk leading to the house, and I took a few rapid steps to get ahead of him. I stopped at the base of the stairs and looked up at him.
“Did you have a good time?” I asked directly.
He nodded. “Yes, I did.”
I couldn’t help smiling.
“It certainly made the episode more interesting.”
I stilled, my smile fading. “What do you mean?”
He looked confused by the change in my voice. “Well, I’d seen it before, so I thought I’d be bored.”
My pulse sped up, but not as it had when I’d been in his arms. “So, what we did… that was just a way to pass the time?” I was well aware that I’d sought his attention as a way to distract myself from the subject matter on the screen. But that was where my mind had been when we started, not where it was by the time we finished.
“Mia?”
I took a step backward, my heel hitting a step. “I’m glad I helped cure your boredom.”
“I said I had fun.” He made it seem as if that should resolve everything.
“And hey, you got in some music practice, too.” I stumbled backward up one step then another. Then I turned and headed straight for the front door. I fished the key out of my jacket pocket and opened the door before I looked back.
Cody was still standing where he’d been, haloed in golden light from the porch.
He stared at me silently. Then he raised his hand to his chest, making a fist. He moved his hand over his chest, as if tracing a circle on it.
That was the last thing I saw before I went inside and up to my room.
19
DIEGO
Graduate school: the perfect option for people who want to spend their evenings analyzing how statistics were used to measure risk and control for variables in epidemiological studies.
I’d chosen to study public health because I wanted to actually help people. To create programs that taught people how to take care of themselves. To get the right information to the populations that needed it the most.
Not to spend hours staring at statistics until my eyeballs were about to go on strike.
I took my glasses off and blinked, trying to focus on something other than the laptop on my desk.
Evan and Raymond were out at the dining room table studying. Sometimes I worked out there. It was motivating to see my roommates doing their coursework too, but tonight I needed solitude to really focus. And tomorrow night I wouldn’t get any—I’d agreed to babysit for a buddy.
Paul and I had become good friends during my sophomore year, when he was a senior. We’d stayed in touch after he finished school, and got together at least once a week, at least until his life got so busy. He was married now, and he and his wife had an eighteen-month-old child, my godson. That thought made me pause.
To be someone's godfather, that meant something. I'd had very limited contact with my birth father, and nothing in the last fifteen years. As for my mother, she took off practically after giving birth. She'd been on my mind a lot lately.
Then again, so had Mia. And the latter was much more fun to spend time thinking about.
I closed my laptop and rubbed my hands over my eyes. These research papers gave me a headache. Mia didn't.
I'd gone into the scavenger hunt thinking I was doing Aaron a favor. I hadn't expected to have fun. And I hadn't expected to see her have fun, especially when partnered with me, but she had.
God, the way she looked after she lost that ridiculous tutu. I couldn’t get the image of those skintight pants, and that little top out of my mind. I should go thank that tutu-eating tree. The way she ran, the way she moved, it was so graceful, not like an actual ballerina, but like a fit young woman who was comfortable with her body.
And her smile… I hadn’t actually seen it before, at least not directed at me. But it had been pretty constant by the end of the scavenger hunt.
These were thoughts I’d tried to resist—and failed. Especially after holding her in my arms during the dance lesson. If Aaron hadn't been there waiting, I would have danced with her all night.
After weeks, it seemed like she was finally starting to trust me. To maybe even enjoy spending time with me. She’d been so attentive when she was in my arms. The way she was so alert for whichever way I leaned, whichever way I stepped. It was a pleasure to lead when your partner was that responsive.