Page 26 of Those Eyes, That Mouth

I felt so fucking happy I almost couldn't breathe.

We'd barely made it ten steps when I heard someone call my name.

I turned to see Alex and Kelly coming out the back door of the building, rushing to catch up with us. They must've seen us walking past.

For half a second I felt awkward about Kelly seeing us holding hands, but Nathan didn't let go.

Alex raised an eyebrow as they got closer, glancing down at our joined hands, then back up at me. A slow smile spread across her face.

Kelly stumbled over her words the second she spotted it. "Hey, guys, we were just—morning—hi." She was trying a little too hard to act like she wasn't surprised. But she recovered quickly, her expression smoothing into something warm and friendly.

I caught the hurt in her eyes though, just a flash before she covered it up. But she was being sweet about it. She was never the enemy.

"Morning," Nathan said, like nothing had changed, like this was the most normal thing in the world.

We kept walking, all four of us together.

Alex fell into step beside me, leaning close. "You're wearing his sweater," she said quietly.

"Yeah." I couldn't help grinning.

"And holding his hand."

"Yeah." My cheeks were starting to hurt.

She gave me a shit-eating grin, then dropped her voice even lower. "I've been telling Kelly for weeks this was gonna happen."

I blinked. "You have?"

"Obviously. You two have been circling each other since move-in day." She squeezed my arm. "The minute I have you alone you are telling me every fucking thing and you better not leave out any details."

Downtown, the square had that Sunday morning quiet—most of the shops were still closed, and there weren't that many cars on the street. But the café was open and the tables outside were already full, the cool people claiming their spots, nursing coffee, smoking, talking.

Nobody cared about two guys holding hands.

Nathan and I got in line inside. It smelled like espresso, steamed milk, and pastries baking. My stomach growled.

He ordered for all of us—four coffees, four blueberry muffins—and grabbed a handful of creamers and sugar packets. I tried to pay again, but he waved me off. I carried two of the cups while he balanced the others with a paper bag.

When we came back out, Alex was already chatting up some people at one of the corner tables. They were getting ready to leave and she smoothly slid into a chair, pulling Kelly down beside her. Then she looked around for us and waved us over.

We sat down, Nathan beside me close enough that our knees pressed together, Alex and Kelly across from us.

Kelly was talking about a paper she had due, but I wasn't really paying attention.

I was just staring at Nathan—his hair sticking up from all the gel, the faint shadow of stubble on his jaw, the smudge of foundation still visible at his hairline, the gold ring in his hazel eyes catching the daylight.

He caught me looking and smiled.

I smiled back.

Under the table, his hand found mine again.

After we finished, Alex said she had an errand to run and asked Kelly if she wanted to come with her. Kelly hesitated, glancing at Nathan and me, then caught on that Alex was trying to give us some space.

"Catch up with you guys later," Alex said, smirking at me.

Nathan and I started walking back toward campus.