Page 102 of Forged By Sacrifice

I chuckled. “I’ll be back tonight. You’re kind of stuck with me, seeing as I live here. No escape for the weary.”

“Thank God.” He kissed my lips—a kiss that spoke of us being apart for days instead of hours.

I pulled away and left before I couldn’t help but throw my book bag on the ground and stay.

? ? ?

I was walking out of my first class, heading to my second, when my phone vibrated.

THE GUY: Dinner tonight? Anywhere you want to go.

ME: Better be careful, I might ask to be flown to Paris for dinner.

THE GUY: I may not be able to swing that tonight, but I damn well would try if that’s really want you wanted.

ME: **laughing emoji**

THE GUY: Really. Where do you want to go?

ME: Honestly, I don’t care. Take me somewhere you like.

THE GUY: Better be careful, I might take you to a bug bar.

ME: Bug bar?

THE GUY: Where they serve bugs.

ME: You don’t seem like a bug-eating kind of guy. I’m not sure I have anything to worry about.

THE GUY: You’re right. The thought of eating an ant kind of makes me want to **puke emoji**

ME: Phew. Saved by the ant.

THE GUY: Will you be home by six?

ME: Yes. Will you?

THE GUY: Lions couldn’t keep me away.

I was in my next class when my phone buzzed once more. I was just going to harass him about not working when he should be, but it was Raisa.

RAISA: God. I will be so glad to be away from here.

ME: What’s up?

RAISA: Malik and Dad have been fighting even more. Mom has been trying to intervene. It is obnoxious. Stanford, here I come.

ME: I can’t wait to see you.

RAISA: Malik the Moody will be with me, but I will get to lose him after he drops me in Palo Alto.

ME: You’ll miss him as soon as he flies home.

RAISA: Not for at least a month.

ME: **laughing emoji**

I smiled happily at the thought of seeing my siblings this weekend. Then, my smile disappeared as I thought of having to introduce them to Mac. If it had just been Raisa, it would have been easier. But trying to introduce him to both my siblings, especially if Malik was in one of his petulant moods, was not going to be easy. I wished they were as effortlessly acceptable as Mac’s family had been—humor, a Kennedy-like grace, and charm ebbing through them.

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