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“Actually, I can’t read,” he says, shoving the laptop to me. “You do it.”

“Okay.” When I grab it, he snatches it back.

“No, I’ll do it.”

“Okay.”

“No, you—” He pushes the paper back at me.

“Give me that.” I snatch it from him, skipping through the introductory nonsense and find what I already know to be there. “You got it, Theo; of course you did.”

“Did I?” He leans over, his hair tickling my face as he reads, confirming it for himself. He lets out a breath of ragged air that shakes his whole body.

“Wow, I didn’t know Theo Hudson could be this nervous.”

“Don’t get used to it.” He grabs my face in his hands, then presses a quick kiss to my lips before getting up. “Okay, now that I’m not nervous, I’m remembering I’m hungry. Want one of your dad’s cookies?”

I have to blink away the blurring of heat and dizziness his kiss gave me. “Make it two,” I say, logging into my student account. Theo was so nervous I think he forgot the ranking went live an hour ago, but I didn’t want him to have any more nerves than he did, even if it was for me.

As soon as I finish typing in my password, my phone rings.

“Hey, Lexie,” I say into the phone.

“It’s done,” she says. “My baby, my masterpiece. My first book. A rom-com about a family cursed to never keep a partner and a girl who re-dates her exes to become the perfect girlfriend and break the curse. I’m sending it to you right now.”

“Lexie!” I feel a beam of pride. “I can’t believe it; you actually finished this.”

“You and me both,” she says. This book was her sixth book. The other five she started, ended up hating, and never finished. “It’s trash, but it’s my trash. And if you give me notes, I can make it pretty trash.”

“We’ll edit until your book is a number one New York Times trash seller.”

“You’re the best.” She hangs up and I read the new notification from my dad.

Grabbing lunch with Risha. Want something? I smile, like I do every time those two are together, and write back, Nope, you just stay out and have a good time.

I continue logging in, looking over my profile. I find the tab I’m searching for and read my ranking. There’s a quick sting of disappointment, painful but not unbearable.

Last year I came out ranked first. This year I’m third.

I look at the screen, my heart pumping a little faster, my hands slightly sweaty. Theo comes over, cookies on a plate, sees something on my face, and drops the plate on the coffee table.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, moving toward me.

“My ranking dropped two levels,” I say, my voice steady. “I’m not the number one student anymore.”

Theo’s eyes widen and he sits beside me, grabs my face in his hands. At the concern etched on his face, I laugh, which only makes his expression worsen.

“I’m okay,” I promise. “It sucks, but the world isn’t ending.”

Theo lets out a sigh. “That’s right.”

At the beginning of the year, it would have felt like it. I would have lost parts of my vision; I would have been sick for days, weeks, maybe even all summer. I would have punished myself endlessly.

Now, though, I’m sad but not angry at myself.

“Number one in my eyes,” Theo says, pressing a kiss to my temple.

“You’re a little biased,” I say.

“Me?” He presses another kiss, this time on my cheek. “Not at all.” Another kiss, this time on my chin. “Couldn’t be.” He goes on, kissing every part of my face and neck until I’m this mixture of giddiness and warmth and happiness, such a swelling of it that it makes my sadness evaporate.

“I want my cookies,” I say, trying to reach for them, but Theo keeps pressing kisses on me.

“Later,” he says. This time his hands land on either side of my head, pinning me to the couch. “More important things to take care of now.”

“Hmm.” I play along, my heart thundering. “Like what?”

He answers with a nearly endless kiss.