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I stand up. “You what?”
“I know, I know, I messed up.” He scratches the back of his neck. “You make this look easy; even standing here makes me nervous. I don’t get nervous. Think this stage is cursed.”
I move around the table, place my hands on his chest. He stops rambling, looks down at me.
“No,” I say. “You said what? About me?”
He smiles, a little shy, and a little mischievous too. “What part?” he asks. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
“That you’ve fallen in love with me,” I whisper back.
He reaches over, his hand starting at my neck, reaching my face. “I did say, that didn’t I?”
“Even after all I did?”
“Because of all you did. The beginning, the middle, and the end.”
“There were some bumps along the way.” I flinch.
“There were.” His thumb brushes my cheek. “Including this, I don’t know what I was thinking.”
I chuckle. “So much was wrong about this trial. The way you were questioning me would make me the defendant, and you moved from different stances; I think you should stick to the medical route for sure.”
He narrows his eyes at me. “Figures you’d be a know-it-all when I’m trying to confess my love for you.”
“Do it, then,” I say. “Confess it.”
“I love you, Violet Lopez.”
“Me too, Theo Hudson.”
He leans over and our lips meet. He presses his mouth on mine softly once, like a question. When I grab his hair, pull him closer and press my mouth to his, he hears my answer. And I feel all the moments we spent together, the buildup of affection that became this warm, soft, filling thing.
His next kiss is harder, longer, and filled will warmth and care, gentle enough not to hurt, enough pressure for me to find all the want he has. My heart swells enough; it feels like it presses against my rib cage, and every part of me feels like it’s melting, swooning, losing its balance under Theo’s love.
I want to stay like this for as long as we can.
CHAPTER 24
“Will you take a breath?” I tell Theo, who is fidgeting so much that he upset Vivi and she hopped off the couch to lay curled up on the carpet instead. “You’re going to get the position. Your mom works at the hospital.”
“I told you,” he says beside me, tapping the screen of his laptop, waiting for the email that was supposed to send fifteen minutes ago. “I applied under a different name so that way it’d be fair.”
“And I told you,” I mumble, “that was such a dumb idea and connections are meant to be used.”
“Shush,” he says. “Should I use my phone? Maybe the Wi-Fi on the laptop is down.”
“Can I speak or should I shush?”
“Sorry.” He grabs my hand and presses a kiss to the inside of my palm, making my blood go warm so fast I feel a little dizzy. “Just nervous.”
I sit up and place a hand on his shaking knee. “No kidding?”
The hospital where Theo’s mom works just started this program for the summer where students from different schools can apply to shadow doctors from different specialties on a rotating schedule. Theo applied immediately last month and has done nothing but check his emails to see if something came earlier than today’s designated time to hear which applicants were accepted.
Coincidentally, it’s also when final grades are posted, but unlike Theo, I’m keeping my nerves and worries inside, to myself, where they belong—sometimes, anyway. One of us has to keep it together.
The email notification rings out and Theo stills so unnaturally I have to tap his face several times, then I move over and check for breathing. “Theo?”
