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"How'd you manage to buy this? I saw you the whole time at the mall.”
"Guardian secrets.”
"What's this for? For my first day?”
"No," he said simply. "Because I thought it would make you happy.”
Without even thinking about it, I leaned forward and hugged him. "Thank you.”
Judging from his stiff posture, I'd clearly caught him by surprise. And yeah…I'd actually caught
myself by surprise, too. But he relaxed a few moments later, and when he reached around and
rested his hands on my lower back, I thought I was going to die.
"I'm glad you're better," he said. His mouth sounded like it was almost in my hair, just above
my ear. "When I saw you fall…”
"You thought, 'Wow, she's a loser.'“
"That's not what I thought.”
He pulled back slightly, so he could see me better, but we didn't say anything. His eyes were so
dark and deep that I wanted to dive right in. Staring at them made me feel warm all over, like
they had flames inside. Slowly, carefully, those long fingers of his reached out and traced the
edge of my cheekbone, moving up the side of my face. At the first touch of his skin on mine, I
shivered. He wound a lock of my hair around one finger, just like he had in the gym.
Swallowing, I dragged my eyes up from his lips. I'd been contemplating what it'd be like to kiss
him. The thought both excited and scared me, which was stupid. I'd kissed a lot of guys and
never thought much about it. No reason another one—even an older one—should be that big of
a deal. Yet the thought of him closing the distance and bringing his lips to mine made the world
start spinning.
A soft knock sounded at the door, and I hastily leaned back. Dr. Olendzki stuck her head in. "I
thought I heard you talking. How do you feel?”