Page 2 of Only in Your Dreams

Zac runs a hand over the stubble at his jaw that grew in way sooner than Parker’s, much to my brother’s dismay. “You’re the only one going away for school. Shouldn’t this be the other way around?”

“It should be.” Pointedly, I study the pockets of his jeans. “But you seem to have forgotten my gift at home.”

He rubs his lips together, trying not to laugh. “No, I didn’t. It’s in the car.”

I squint at him. “So, first he forgets to get me a going away present. And then heliesabout forgetting to get me a going away present.”

He quirks a smile. Not a big one. Not the one that casts a glow on whoever he bestows it to. But it’s just enough to trigger the very best part of it. His eyes go all squinty, as though he refuses to be anything but singularly focused on the joy of the moment. Laugh lines carve deep around his eyes, deeper than any eighteen-year-old I know, announcing to the world the kind person he is.

He’s Zac Porter, the golden boy of Oakwood Bay. Quarterback of the high school football team, on the cusp of taking the field for the University of Oakwood Bay, in just a few days’ time. My brother’s charming best friend, with a bevy of girls always trailing him. So confident and optimistic that you can’t help but crave his company, just for a little taste of his warmth. Even me, the infamously grouchy Woods twin, standing in the periphery of his life. Close but never close enough.

Without warning, Zac tosses the mini football. It soars over my head and I scramble back to catch it before it hits the ground.

“Nice catch.” He gets to his feet, shrinks the distance between us. Standing this close together, I need to tip my head back to look at him. “Why’d you sneak me into your room, Clover?”

“To give you a present,” I say, breathlessly.

“And what kind of present is it?” Zac smirks, and I’m blushing again. “What kind of present requires you to sneak me into your bedroom, huh?”

There’s no way he doesn’t hear the rapid thump of my heart. I’m shocked my parents aren’t already barreling up the stairs, every heartbeat sounding the alarm.

Boy in bedroom. Boy in bedroom. Let’s go up and make this awkward as hell.

Zac nudges my chin, scrapes his teeth over his lower lip. “What are you gonna do to me, Clover?”

Is he… is he making a move on me?

His eyelids have gone heavy, his gaze sweeping my face, and he fingers my chin. I think he’s holding his breath, but I might be projecting.

Because we don’t flirt, and he’s never touched me like this. I’m not sure what’s possessed him now, but it really feels like he might be…

He’s just trying to get a rise out of you, same as him and Parker always do. Don’t embarrass yourself falling for it.

“Ha-ha, you wish,” I say, moving for my desk. “Only in your dreams, Zac Porter.”

I force a laugh as I sort through the mess on my desk, trying to find what I’m looking for. Buying my cheeks enough time to dial down the heat, and so determined to move us past this moment that it takes a second to realize that Zac isn’t laughing with me.

To recognize the silence as heavy.

He huffs out a breath. “Well, fuck.”

I turn to find Zac rubbing his face with rough hands. Every stroke revealing a couple of inches of flushed skin on his forehead, his cheeks.

Shit.

“I’m only kidding,” I blurt. “God, that was so embarrassing. I know you’d never actually wish—”

“I better get back to the party,” he says, finally surfacing from behind his hands. When he does, there’s not a trace left over of that smirk. He eyes a spot on the wall above my head, cheeks still flaming. “I left Grams to fend for herself with the rest of the guys on the team.”

“She was wiping the floor with Parker at poker when we left—”

“I’ll be quiet sneaking out. Don’t worry.” Zac flashes me a quick smile, turning for the door. “I’ll see you around, Mel.”

“Wait.”

I dash for the door, push it shut just as he starts to pull it open.

I’m panting. Maybe from rushing to catch him. Maybe because he’s standing so close, soft brown eyes staring at his feet, or because my heart is shoving the air from my lungs with every one of its rapid beats.

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