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Wow.That’s… a lot. And so unbelievably sweet. I don’t know how to respond. I just keep rereading what he wrote, and I… I don’t know what to say.
Another text pops up on the screen a few minutes later.
ARLO: Too much?
I smile, knowing exactly what to say now.
KIDA: No. It was just enough.
ARLO: Good. Because I meant it. Every word. And if you can’t trust my word yet, trust that your scary sisters have threatened the wellbeing of my nuts with enough conviction that if I wasn’t super into you, I’d have run for the hills already.
I burst out laughing.
KIDA: Okay, you’ve convinced me. So what now?
ARLO: We keep texting until you’re ready to meet up in person one day. I hope that’s sooner than later, but I’m honestly just glad you’re talking to me at all. I’ll take what I can get with you, Kida. Haven’t you realized that by now?
KIDA: I’m beginning to.
* * *
I waketo a good morning text from Arlo, and a smile is etched on my face for the rest of the day.
I still can’t find Neil, the slippery bastard, but my smile remains.
I inadvertently knocked Val off balance while gesticulating rather passionately about my theory that Neil’s mother is hiding him somewhere out of guilt for boning the dean. Val ended up face planting into the side of his car. But instead of feeling like a terrible failure of a human being, I kept smiling.
When we get back to the office, I retrieve an ice pack for Val’s face, wrap it in a cloth, and press it to his cheek.
“What’s with you today? Normally you tunnel down into the depths of woe after a little misstep like this,” Val says, replacing my hand with his, holding the ice in place.
I shrug as casually as a terrible secret keeper like me can. “Nothing. I’m just in a good mood.”
Val arches a brow. “Because…?”
“Because she was up until all hours of the night texting with her new boyfriend,” Snow says, leaning against the doorway to the break room.
I scoff. “And how would you know?”
“You were still up when I got home last night. I poked my head in to check on you and you were so absorbed in your cell that you didn’t even notice me.”
“Oh.”
Val’s eyes dart between me and Snow a few times before coming to land on me. “Is it the new guy in town? The one you,ya know, last week?”
I slap my hand over his mouth. “Shh.”
He laughs behind my palm then pushes it away. “I’ve gotta say, that’s a new way of getting your crush’s attention, but it’s obviously effective. Maybe I should give it a go.”
“Give what a go?” Belle asks, stepping around Snow and entering the room.
Valentine goes beet red as his gaze follows her to the fridge, where she gets herself a bottled water. He licks his lips when she unscrews the cap and takes a long swallow. “Uh, umm, w-what?” he stutters.
Belle gives him a quizzical look. “You just said you’d give something a go, and I asked what it was. Are you feeling okay? You’re awfully flushed. Are you coming down with something?” She steps up to his side and places her palm on his forehead.
He doesn’t move a muscle as she checks his temperature, except for a sharp inhale when she runs her hand around to feel the back of his neck as well. Feeling all kinds of awkward being in the room with them right now, I slowly back out, noting Snow has already made her exit when I reach the empty doorway. I find her sitting at her desk rubbing Bosco’s belly with her booted foot.
“Thanks for leaving me in there withthat.”
