Page 113 of Our Secret Moments

The situation with Nora is a whole other thing. Something is telling me that she purposely tried to busy herself so she wouldn’t see me today. After we had breakfast together this morning, she was in the happiest mood I’ve ever seen before she slipped through the door to set up her boyfriend’s party. I swear this girl falls more and more in love with him every day and I love it for her. I just hope that she’ll understand where I’m coming from when I tell her.

That’s if I can find her again.

One thing about Nora Bailey? She will never stay in one place for long.

Connor and I met at the party and he’s not left my side since. We’ve scanned every room in the giant house, walking in on more than one person fooling around and getting hit in the face with the gross smell of vapes.

When we push open another door to a group of twenty-somethings and still don’t see her, I turn back down the corridor, frustrated. Connor’s hot behind me, jogging to keep up with me. I brush my hair out of my face in defeat.

“I’m going to tell her,” I mutter to myself. Saying it aloud means I can’t chicken out, right?

“You’re going to tell her,” he repeats back to me, slinging his arm around my shoulder as we continue walking down the corridor. My hands are shaking just from the anticipation. It shouldn’t be a big deal. Itisn’ta big deal.

“Yep. Me… You… We are going to tell her.”

He leans down, his mouth hovering over my ear. “Are you sure?” he asks.

“Yeah, I can’t keep hiding this from her.”

“Okay,” he murmurs, “As long as it’s soon, because I want to PDA all over you. You look fucking stunning tonight.”

I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the way Connor talks about me. I don’t think I want to. With every word that comes out of his mouth, I feel like I’m melting. He says the sweetest things so casually, validates my feelings without doubt and he’s justthere.

“You’re not too bad, yourself,” I mutter, looking up at him. He shakes his head before pressing a kiss to my temple. We continue walking and I still can’t spot her. “Do you have any idea where she could be?”

He shakes his head. “No clue. She’s been here all morning, so she should be around here somewhere. Maybe she went back to your dorm to change.”

I bark out a laugh. “I think you’re forgetting she’s a theatre major. She can pull off a good outfit change wherever she is. She wouldn’t need to go home to do that.”

He hums. “True.” When we walk back into the living room where most of our friends are, he leans down to whisper. “Hey, just relax, okay? When we see her, we’ll talk. For now, just have fun.”

CONNOR

There is nothing sexier than Catherine rolling her eyes at me. She’s going to start to stress me out if she doesn’t stop worrying about Nora. We’re meant to be here having a good time since neither of us are busy.

I’m not necessarily here to celebrate the birthday boy. He’s good enough to Nora as far as I’m aware, but he’s not my favourite guy on the planet. He’s not made any effort to be a part of our friend group and I’ve never pushed him either. I’m perfectly fine with the distance between us.

Myfriends are the ones who argue on the floor in the living room aggressively arguing over whatever game they’re playing. Wes, Sam, Oli and some other guys from the team are sitting in a circle, an empty beer bottle in the middle as a few girls sit between the guys. I slip my hand from around Cat’s shoulder as we walk further in, trying to see what’s going on.

“What are you guys playing?” I ask.

Wes’s smile doubles as he looks up. “I honestly don’t know. We’re just spinning the bottle and picking up a card from this pack Sam has.”

I hum in response. “Sounds fun. Can we join?”

“Ofcourseyou can,” Wes coo’s. When I take a seat next to him, I flick him in the head as Cat settles beside me. “There’sspare spots anyway. Archer’s away brooding because he had to kiss Elle, but she said no.”

Catherine chokes next to me. “She said no? Why would she say no? I mean, respectfully, Archer is gorgeous.”

Everyone in the circle laughs. As much as he’s a broody motherfucker who doesn’t like to talk to anyone, everyone knows he’s model-level good looking. He’s built like a giant, too. I’ve tried to convince him to try out for the football team, or even the hockey team, but he sticks to his history books and one-liners.

“You hear that, Connie boy?” Wes mocks, leaning into me. “She said he’sgorgeous.How do you feel about that?”

“I don’t feel anything, Wesley,” I mutter. Catherine shuffles beside me, bringing her hand to my back where no one else can see it.

“He’s got nothing on you, Connor. Don’t worry,” she mutters, pressing a kiss to my shoulder.

I lean back into her, keeping my voice as quiet as possible whilst everyone around us talks loud. “I know, baby. He’s not the one who can make you scream the way I do.” Her breath hitches and I shuffle forward away from her, linking my hands together. “Alright. Let’s play.”

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