The shrug was a bad idea, though, because it caused a glob of Jell-O to fall from my nest of hair and land with aplopon my shoulder.
I could only stare at it in betrayal.
Noah’s side of the car was quiet, and I told myself not to look, but of course I did—only to find his face turning red from the effort of holding in laughter.
“It’s fine, you can laugh.” I crossed both arms over my chest and turned to look out my window.
Air burst from Noah’s lungs with a laugh joining it, and I got whiplash from the force of my head turning back to him. He laughed with his full body, hands shaking on the wheel as his stomach constricted. A smile stretched from ear to ear, and his hazel eyes were pools of warmth when he spared a glance at me.
He looked happy. Really happy.
At my expense, but I was too flabbergasted to really care.
I couldn’t resist joining in, and laughter bubbled to my lips until I was smiling just as widely as he was.
It was a few blocks before Noah’s laughter eased off and settled into a handsome smile while he smoothed a hand down his blazer. “Did you end up getting any coffee while you were there?”
“No. The Sterlings said I could help myself to their coffee, but they have this espresso machine that you need a bachelor’s degree in machinery to know how to operate.”
“Not worth the risk of trying in case it blew up?” Noah teased as he turned onto the highway.
“Oh no, I still tried. I just couldn’t get it to work. It kept yelling at me.”
Noah chuckled again, and I decided he was feeling particularly carefree today. At least as carefree as someone who wore blazers and nice slacks could feel.
“How about I drop you off at your dorm to clean up, then you meet me back at the car and we’ll go for some coffee?” Noah asked casually. Almosttoocasually. “I know of a new café that just opened up a few blocks from campus.”
The butterflies were back, and it felt like they were vomiting happiness inside my stomach, because it was quickly pooling with a warm kind of pleasure.
“Sally’s Café?” I prompted before clearing my dry throat. Noah nodded. I cleared my throat again to give myself a chance at sounding like I wasn’t hyperventilating on the inside. “That sounds great. I heard about it, too, and I’ve been wanting to try it.”
“We could grab lunch, too,” Noah said as he switched lanes. “They serve sandwiches.”
The butterflies in my stomach roared into a frenzy. “I’d love to.”
Noah spared me another smile before focusing on the road again, and I’d lost count of how many he’d sent my way this morning.
I just knew I wanted to see a thousand more.
Maybe Miles Preston Fitzgerald Sterling the Third wasn’t so bad after all. In fact, I think I owed the little bugger a few rounds of lightsaber battles.
The kid was officially my wingman.
CHAPTER20
A Group Project
Climbingout of bed the next day was like waking from a dream. I managed to rouse before my alarm, and there was a stupid smile permanently etched onto my face. I didn’t even care that it was a Monday.
I was in such a state of post-hanging-out-with-my-crush bliss, I felt like sitting cross-legged on my bed and humming Kumbaya while making a daisy chain crown.
So that was exactly what I did.
Teresa didn’t appreciate the humming very much, and a bee stung me while I was plucking daisies in front of our dorm building, but my smile was still going strong when I strolled into Music Theory at promptly eight o’clock with a freshly brewed cup of coffee in hand.
And it didn’t leave when I spared a glance at Noah, only to catch him returning my look before we both twisted toward the front of the room like naughty children.
I was beginning to think the butterflies in my stomach would never leave, and I resolved to start charging them rent.
