Page 20 of The Witch & the Wolf

“You don’t have to come along. I can go alone,” he said instead. “I’m sure they’ll understand that it’s not fair to put you through all that and force you to deal with these things.”

“Like hell, I’m leaving you alone! That’s even worse!”

Oh, okay, he thought. Maybe he shouldn’t have suggested that. “I just – I don’t think it’s fair for you to be put in that position.”

“It’s not fair for you, either.”

Those words caused a strange stirring within him– one he wasn’t quite prepared for. “No fairer for you. I wish we could’ve kept things simpler. I was enjoying our day together.”

“Me, too. I was hoping we’d go to the cinema. I was hoping…” She let it trail off.

What was she hoping for? Don’t just leave me hanging!

He glared at his phone. “Hoping for what?”

“I don’t know. I thought, maybe the setting would be… romantic.”

Romantic?

His brain whirled crazily, trying to process the word, causing him to see the situation in an entirely different light. “You were hoping for romance?”

“No! That’s not what I meant. Just… I wanted to get to know you more. See if – see how things went.”

His heart gave a treacherous little stutter, and he stared, dumbfounded, letting a foreign feeling wash over him, one that sent shivers of delight through his body. “I didn’t consider you might be thinking that way.” He paused. “Actually, that’s a lie. I did consider it. I just didn’t want to add any kind of false hope.”

No response came from her for a moment, but the notification was clearly received and read. Perhaps she needed time to process these words, just as he was doing right now. His hands were clammy from sweat and nerves.

Then she wrote: “I also didn’t want to feel any false hope.”

An admission?

He perked up. “That’s normal. So… you’re not dating anyone?”

“No, are you?”

“Single as a Pringle, as they say.”

“I don’t think they say that…”

“Humor me. Where are you now?”

“My room. Other wing, of course.”

He debated the idea before deciding to just go for it. His emotions spiked all over the place, still trying to make sense of the whole conversation, still, in a way, trying to avoid that rising sensation of hope. “Do you want to meet?”

Several times, he watched her type something, delete it, and then retype it before he got a simple response. “Yes.”

“Cool. Outside?”

“No, I don’t want to go outside now. Your dorm is closer to the entrance of the wing than mine… perhaps I can slip through without anyone noticing…”

“What would you like to do when you get here?”

“I hope you have breath mints.”

That’s all she wrote. He shivered and instantly went to freshen up, change his top, brush his teeth – everything possible not to embarrass himself when she came over. He didn’t really have a plan for what might happen, but there was a growing, intangible excitement in his gut that spread through his body.

He heard a soft knock at the door as he furiously splashed water on his face. He stumbled over to open it, and she looked wild and oddly excited. She closed the door behind her.

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