Page 92 of Meet Me at the Metro

“It is, youarsehole!”

“There’s no‘r,’ Theo!”

“In the British vernacular, there is,” I argue, climbing overtop of her. I pin her arms to the mattress, leaving her defenseless as I relentlessly attack her neck with kisses. I won’t stop until she’s laughing so hard she’s completely breathless. “You done picking on me?”

“I haven’t decided yet.”

I draw my head back, ready to strike again.

“Okay, fine! I’m done! I’m done!”She swears.

“That’s what I thought,” I smirk. A few beats of silence pass between us, and I can’t help but wonder why she asked me about who I was texting. I decide to ask again in hopes of quelling both of our curiosities. “You gonna tell me now?”

“Tell you what?”

“Who you thought I was texting? You seemed relieved when I told you it was Kimberley.”

She averts her eyes, suddenly growing shy.“I don’t know.”

“Nora,” I prod. “Do you think I was messaging some other girl or something?”

“I don’t know,” she whispers. That immediately verifies my suspicions.

“I wouldn’t do that, Nora.”

“I’m sorry. I just—I got worried.”

So quickly, I remember that night I ran into her on the train—the same night of theStar Flyerwhen she was so torn up about her ex because she found out he was cheating.My gut coils at the thought of her believing I could do the same thing.

“You don’t have to be sorry,” I tell her. “I get it.”

She shields her face with her hands and groans.

“What?”

“I’m embarrassed.”

I pry her palms away from her face to see her again. “Why are you embarrassed?”

“Because I like you so much that I’m acting like a freaking fool.”

I smilehard at that. “Do you, now?”

Her face turns a bright shade of red. “Never mind, actually, I hate you!”

I squeeze back onto the mattress beside her, wiggle an arm underneath her back, and scoop her against me. “You’re contradicting yourself, Miss Nora.”

“Then I contradict myself!”

Our laughter settles until nothing but the soft music of the record player and our breathing fills the room. “Are you sure you want to come to that dinner with me?”

“I’m sure.” Another moment of silence lingers between us before she softly tells me, “I’m proud of you, Theo.”

I swallow the sudden lump in my throat.“For what?”

“For even agreeing to have dinner with them in the first place. I know that wasn’t easy.”

She has no damn idea how much I needed to hear that.

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