Page 65 of Any Port in a Storm

I scrunch my brow. “You know I was.”

“Well, that’s why I’m sad. Because now we won’t get a chance to.”

I brush a disheveled tuft of hair off his forehead. Despite knowing for a full two weeks that I was coming over this morning, he didn’t manage to find time to get his hair in order. I’m a slave to styling tools, but I can’t help finding his persistent state of disarray incredibly endearing. “We’ll find another time.”

“I’m graduating next year. I don’t even know if I’ll be here after that. It depends on where I’m able to find an adjunct job.”

I can see that he’s starting to spiral. “There are about two hundred colleges in the greater Boston area alone.”

He purses his lips. “There are about fifty, but I appreciate that you’re trying to reassure me.”

“What I’m trying to say, Nick,” I look directly into his eyes, “is that there’ll be time.” I can’t help but smile. “For us, there’s nothing but time.”

A week later, I’m sitting at my desk, puzzling over some Pre-Raphaelite poetry, when the doorbell rings. I look over to Grace, but she’s got headphones in. “I’ll get it,” I shout, gesturing to the door. She nods.

Through the peephole, I can see that it’s Nick. “Hey,” I say, my heart skipping a beat when I realize he’s wearing a white button-down with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. It’s one of my favorite male looks, and when it’s paired with his overall aura, it’s almost too much for me to take.

He doesn’t even step inside before he says, “Let’s go now.”

“Go where?”

“On our museum trip. Let’s go now.”

I peek down at his watch. It’s 6:30. Could he be drunk? It seems a little early. “It’s dinner time. On a Thursday. And don’t you have work to do?” I know he’s been struggling through a particularly challenging section of his dissertation.

“No.” He shakes his head as if he’s frustrated. As if I’m somehow misunderstanding what I’m increasingly thinking might be a psychotic break. “Spring break starts tomorrow, yeah?”

“Yeah?”

“What if we went now?”

I consider the glint in his eye; the way his accent is slipping roughly over every word as it tumbles out of his mouth. He’s excited about this.

“But we don’t have reservations or anything. We haven’t priced it out for this time of year. And we were going to⁠—”

“Hey.” He grabs my hand. “It doesn’t matter. We’ve planned enough. Let’s have a little adventure.”

My pulse ratchets up. The most attractive man I’ve ever met is standing before me, begging me to drop everything during a week when, quite frankly, I was probably going to be hanging out with him much of the time anyway. And he wants me to accompany him on a super nerdy vacation, during which we’ll be together quite literally 100 percent of the time.

“Yeah, Laur. I think you need a little adventure,” Grace says over my shoulder. Her earbuds are dangling from her pointer finger, and her grin is dripping with mischief. “You should do it.”

“See?” Nick says. “Grace wants you out of her hair.”

“Excuse me?” I feign offense. “Why should I go anywhere with you?”

Grace looks between us, winks at me, then grabs her keys. “I’m going to run to the library. See ya!” She whooshes away, leaving behind a charged silence.

“Come with me.” Nick’s eyes are tight on me, and it just about takes my breath away.

“Well, you were right about the black pudding,” I tease.

His face relaxes into an easy smile. “I promise, this will be just as good.”

“I hope it’s significantly better.”

He laughs. “I’ll make sure it is.”

“Okay,” I agree. I’m not going to think it through; I’m just going to jump. It feels like the right move, and who am I to fight my instincts?