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“And you? Are you hopeless, too?”
He scrubs a hand across his jaw. “I’m not exactly looking.”
“TheCallum Galloway isn’t looking?”
“What?” He nudges me gently, his shoulder brushing against mine. “You don’t believe me?”
“I don’t know, you seemed pretty desperate for it the other night.”
“Hey!” His brow furrows, teeth sinking into his full bottom lip. “I thought we agreed to forget about what I said. Starting over and all?”
“Yeah, I’m just teasing you.”
He gives me a humorless snort. “You’re very funny.”
“You know, you’ve always said that about me.”
“Cocky, too,” he says with a playful smirk. After a moment, his expression softens, sincerity coloring his voice. “Thanks for coming tonight, Li. For letting me back in. Means a lot to me.”
“I’m really glad I came. It’s so nice to see this side of you. You’re so .. . happy. I wasn’t sure if that was the case anymore.”
He gives my hand a quick squeeze under the table. “You thought I might not be happy?”
“You know, these things are hard to tell from the outside.”
“Well, thank God you’re on the inside again. And I am—was—happy, that is. Happier now that you’re back with me, though.”
“Good.”
“And you?” he asks softly, thumb tapping along the center of my palm.
“Yeah, Callum, I’m happy, too.”
CHAPTERFIVE
CALLUM
THEN
“Cal?” Lila says, her voice fluttering like the leaves above us.
We’re sitting under our favorite oak tree, the one we’ve claimed as our castle, our fortress, our spaceship, depending on the day.
I wipe my brow with the back of my hand, leaving a smudge of dirt in its wake. “What’s up?”
She’s holding something behind her back, shifting uncomfortably in her spot on the ground. Finally, she reveals a woven bracelet, its green threads delicately intertwined. “I made you something. And look, it’s your favorite color.”
“A bracelet? Isn’t that kind of, like, girly?”
“Oh, I guess so.” Her expression falters, a flicker of disappointment in her eyes. “I made a matching one for myself.” She lifts her wrist, showing off the woven threads. “But, um, you don’t have to wear yours if you don’t want to.”
“Tie it on for me,” I say, extending my arm. “Will you, Lila?”
NOW
The following weeks unfold like pages from an old, familiar book, each day bringing us closer, rekindling the bond that we’d let slip away.
We’ve hung out casually more than a handful of times. Sometimes we walk around campus, talking about everything and nothing. On the longer days, we’ll catch a quick meal between classes. Or, like now, we’ll spend our afternoon studying together in the library.
