“So does seeing you.”
“That’s not a saying.”
“I don’t care.”
I giggled. “I wish I could go out, but my mom insists on family dinners every Saturday night, so I really have to stay home.”
Hudson sighed dramatically. “What do you expect me to do, then?”
“Sit there and think about me for the whole day,” I said sweetly. “You could even build me a shrine. It would beveryromantic.”
“You’re so right,” he said. “I’ll get on that rightnow. But first… secret?”
“I have never built a shrine to someone,” I said. “You?”
“That doesn’t count as a secret.”
“It’s a fact I’ve never expressly told anyone, ergo secret,” I said. “Now tell me yours.”
“I also have never built a shrine to someone.”
“You can’t steal my secret! Think of your own!”
“But it’s true for me, too.”
“Well, I probably could have guessed that,” I said. “Now, tell me another secret instead.”
“I can’t think of anything else. It’s too much pressure.”
“Oh yeah, because I’ve never asked you for a secret when we’ve talked before.”
He laughed. “I guess itison me for calling you without thinking of something.”
“So irresponsible.”
“Okay, I’ve got it,” Hudson said. “My secret is that I want to see you again as soon as possible.”
“That’s not a secret—you already told me.”
“You’re so hard to please.”
“Try again.”
“Okay, okay. My secret is that I want to kiss you… preferably right now.”
“I can’t kiss you right now,” I said.
“Why not?”
“You’re not here.”
“Try again.”
I frowned in confusion and lookedaround as if he would have materialized in my room somehow without me knowing.
“What do you mean?” I asked. I stood up, tossing the pillow I’d been holding back onto my bed, and walked over to the window. My eyes widened as I looked down at the street and saw Hudson standing there in the open doorway of his car. His phone was pressed to his ear, and he grinned up at me. “Are you crazy?”
“Crazy in love with you,” he said, echoing the words he’d said when he told me he wanted to meet for the first time. “Come down?”