Page 151 of The Hookup Situation
I nod. “I think I saw the spice too.”
He grabs my hand and chuckles. “Corny.”
I turn to him. “Am I the type of woman men want? Do you think I’m too much?”
“Not for me. I can never get enough,” he confesses. “And, yeah, I think you are the type of woman men want.”
“Why am I single?” I ask.
He turns to me. “Because you’re not a fucktoy, Jules. You’re the type of woman men want forever with.”
My heart skips a beat.
We finish wandering through the maze, stopping to kiss one another when we can. I hear music, laughter, and the occasional scream from the haunted house.
“Did you know we’re almost at our thirty-day mark?” Nick asks as we take another wrong turn.
“Yes, I’m aware. One week. I’ve got your expiration date programmed into my phone.”
“I’m not running, Jules.” He places his hands on my shoulders. “I don’t want to, and that’s never happened before.”
“What does that mean?”
“What we have is different.”
“Does that scare you?” I ask.
“Not this time,” he tells me, kissing me.
I grab his shirt, pulling him to me. “Love to hear it.”
After we break away, he grabs my hand and leads us toward the exit of the maze.
“Thank you for making my silly list seem important,” I say.
“I don’t think it’s silly.” He kisses my forehead. “I know we’re not supposed to talk about this yet, but I’m?—”
“Don’t jinx it.” I press my finger to his lips. “Tell me on Halloween. We agreed.”
“You’re right,” he says. “I got lost in the moment.”
After forty-five minutes of purposely being lost, we find our way out.
“There you are!” Autumn calls out. She takes one look at us and smirks. “Have fun getting ‘lost’?”
“Too much fun,” I say, but we’re not fooling anyone.
My lips are still swollen, my hair is a mess despite attempts to fix it, and we both have that telltale glow.
As we walk back through the festival, Nick’s thumb brushes over mine. It’s such a simple gesture, but it makes my heart race. Something has shifted. This isn’t just about checking things off a list anymore. This isn’t just a hookup situation. This is something more. Something that scares and excites me at the same time. Something that might be worth risking everything for.
We’re in the middle of where we were and where we’re going. It’s almost purgatory because I have my answer, but I’m giving it space to breathe, to make sure Nicolas Banks is who I want.
I’m just worried something will change between now and then, and our answers won’t match.
24
NICK
