“Why didn’t you tell me?” I batted his chest playfully, feeling a strange surge of confidence. Maybe it was the way he was looking at me. Maybe it was the warmth carried on the summer breeze, or the thudding bass. Either way, I took a step closer.
And so did he. Until the toes of my Vans were touching his sneakers.
“I missed you.” He said it as if it was the beginning and the end. Like nothing else mattered.
My head swam. “I missed you too.”
It happened so fast, I hadn’t even realized we were still standing directly in the entryway. “Watch it—” someone shouted, but before I could move, Jude’s hand wrapped around my waist and tugged me sharply out of the way. The door slammed open where I’d been standing a second earlier.
Now I was flat against his chest.
“Ransom!” A tall guy with dark hair and a NASA hoodie that matched the one I’d stolen from Jude stepped forward, grinning wide. “Dude!”
“Elias,” Jude greeted the guy, reaching around me to clasp his hand. “I didn’t think you’d actually make it.”
I tried to turn, but Jude held tight, the other hand splayed against my back. I could feel the warmth of his skin through my shirt. I managed to turn in his arms, back pressed to his chest.
“Wouldn’t miss this.” Elias’s eyes flicked to me.
“This is Solace,” Jude added. His face was so close I could turn and kiss his cheek.
I stiffened and his hand flexed lightly at my waist, fingers now touching the bare skin of my hip.
Elias looked back at him with a slow, knowing grin. “This is Solace?TheSolace?”
My stomach dropped straight through the floor. I tucked my hair behind my ear. Again. Why did I keep doing that? If I had a mirror close by I’d probably have checked that again too. “Hi,” I said, aiming for normal and landing somewhere closer to awkward as hell.
“Hi,” Elias echoed, still grinning at Jude.
Jude cleared his throat. “Elias and I met at the first year of space camp,” he explained. “He’s the one who helped me refine Survival Optimization Logic.”
Elias nodded enthusiastically. “I’ve known this guy longer than that though. Our dads have collaborated on a few projects.”
Jude stiffened behind me, but Elias didn’t seem to notice. His dad had always been a tough subject.
“Wish you’d take Dr. Ebbard’s invitation though. We miss you around there.”
Elias laughed, going into some explanation about how he couldn’t just leave his family. Something they’d clearly talked about before considering the ease in which they teased each other.
I tried to focus on that—on science and space, except Jude’s arm was still around me, and I was very aware of it.Veryaware of the steady rise and fall of his chest behind me. The way my back fit against him. The faint scratch of stubble when he turned his head. Pathetically, I wasn’t even listening anymore. I was considering the fact that Survival Optimization Logic could be abbreviated to SOL. Which sure, I guess could also meanshit out of luck,and would be pretty damn funny considering the software’s function, but Jude was the only person who called me Sol.
Trust me. I’d spent all year trying to convince myself it must have been some sort of coincidence—
It wasn’t.
“…show you the new mapping interface,” Jude was saying.
“Yeah, yeah,” Elias replied.
I caught Bridget across the room, she was standing with Luca near the kitchen entrance. She was makingexaggerated heart eyes at me. I glared, which only made her taunt me further. Her face screwed up, and she blew kisses at me. I flipped her off.
“Sol?” Jude’s voice cut through the static.
I blinked up at him, turning my chin until he appeared upside down in my sight.
“I’m gonna go show him the setup in the garage. Do you want to come?”
I looked between them. Elias had this goofy grin on his face. “No, that's okay, I'm going to go hang with Bridget.”
