Page 47 of The Other Side of Apart

I laugh and sit up, grab the bag of gummy bears, then snuggle in beside him, looking at the sky. “Guess we can take out our frustrations on these poor, innocent gummy bears.”

He groans again but nuzzles my neck, and I flinch and smile when the stubble on his chin rakes across my skin. He slings his arm around me, holding me closer to his side, and I graba handful of gummy bears and pop a few into my mouth. But they’re smaller than normal and I stop, holding one up between my fingers. “Ummm… Marcus? Where did the rest of the gummy bears go?”

“Are you so distracted by my body that you missed this?” He picks up the bag, shaking it above us.

“No—there are only heads. Lots and lots of gummy bear heads. Where did their bodies go?”

“Didn’t realize you’re so picky.” He works to keep a smirk off his face.

“I only eat whole gummy bears, bodies and heads intact.”

“You’re vicious.”

I pinch his side, and he squirms, grinning.

“What did you do to them, Marcus?”

“Look…I had a really long break between games. I was starving, so I opened the bag and ate a few.” He pauses dramatically, looking at me out of the corner of his eye. “Maybe a few more than a few.”

“But why just the heads…?”

“Because…the heads taste the best. Plus, I feel weird eating the butts.”

I lean up on my elbow, looking down at him, then burst out laughing and fall to my back again. “You are soweird! Who thinks of stuff like that?”

He smiles and rolls into me, his hand on my neck, fingers threading in my hair. “I must not be too weird since you were about to get me naked on this rooftop.”

“Oh, you’re definitely weird,” I murmur in the slit of night air between our faces, “but I just so happen to be madly in love with weird. Can’t get enough of it.”

We make out under blankets and eat gummy bear bums, taking breaks to watch the stars shooting through the darkness above us until the temperature drops.

When I shiver, Marcus gets up and pulls me to my feet, and we gather the blankets and pillows and tuck them under our arms as we walk across the roof to the door, hips bumping against each other.

“Someday, Mei, we’re gonna have our own house and our own roof where we can do whatever we want.”

“All I really want is you, but…I’d probably really like you on a roof doing whatever we want too.”

Marcus tries to turn the doorknob, but it doesn’t move. He wiggles it again and swears. “It’s locked. Not even kidding.” He knocks while I try the knob like it just might open for me. “Okay. So let’s look for a ladder or…something.” He turns, surveying the roof for inspiration.

I grab my book, grateful I used a bobby pin as a bookmark. “Can you shine your phone on the doorknob?”

Marcus frowns but gets his phone out and illuminates the lock.

I hunch over the doorknob and slip my bobby pin into the hole. I wiggle it around until I hear the dull thud of the lock sliding away.

Marcus peers over my shoulder and whistles. “Just when I think I know you…”

“When you have a cousin who’s shady, you learn shady things that are useful sometimes.” I smile and swing open the door, and we’re back inside the building, skimming down the stairs to the second floor and our apartment.

“That was hot, Mei,” Marcus whispers as he unlocks our door, his hair standing at angles from static and my hands. Inside, he tosses the blankets and pillows on the couch, drops the key on the counter, and presses me against the door in the dark.

His mouth is hot against mine, the rest of his face cold as I whisper against his lips, “Unpause.”

CHAPTER 25

Mei: If Santa were real, know what I would ask for?

Marcus: Wait! Santa’s not real?

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