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“You don’t need to thank me. You’re the one that did it.”
“Regardless . . . take the credit.” He laughed.
I smiled. “Fine. You’re welcome, then.”
“‘Night, Julie.”
“G’night,” I said, then hung up the phone and clutched it to my chest. Wishing I was really Julie. Wishing for someone to give me permission to be me.
Chapter 20
TOPHER
IenteredthelibraryandspottedPenelopeimmediately.Shesatatatable,hunchedoverawornpaperback.Alockofdarkhairfellinhereyes.Sheabsentlypusheditaway,shovingitbehindherear,andwhensheglancedupatthesoundofmyfootsteps,herchocolateeyesmetmine,andmyheartsqueezed.
“Hey.” I grinned as I sidled up next to the table, shoving my hand into the back pocket of my jeans where I retrieved the tickets and slid them over the tabletop. “I’ve got a little surprise for you.”
She blinked down at them. They were IRL tickets for a concert in Richmond, and I’d spent hours yesterday scouring the internet and various ticket sites to find the best ones.
Several beats passed before she picked them up, mouth gaping. “What? No way.”
“Yes, way,” I confirmed, trying and failing to hide my smirk.
“But . . . how?”
“I have my ways. But if we want to make it in time, we need to go. It’s a two-hour drive.”
Penelope glanced at the little silver watch strapped around her wrist. “Oh crap.” Then her gaze shifted over her books and the room. “What about our session?”
“What about our session? Do you hear yourself?” I leaned onto the table, palms pressing into the edge of the wood. “What’s the problem, P?”
“There’s no problem, I—”
“Oh, I see how it is.” I straightened and rocked back on my heels. “It’s me. You want to go to the concert, just not with me.” I didn’t really believe this, of course, but I enjoyed messing with her, and the blush rising to her cheeks was too cute to stop.
“No. That’s not it. I swear.”
“It’s cool. I get it.” I snatched the tickets back up and held them away from her.
“Hey! You can’t offer, then take it back.” She stood on her toes in an effort to swipe them from my fingertips, but I held them above my head while she clawed at the air.
“I wouldn’t want to make you do anything you didn’t want to.”
She scowled, shooting me a dirty look. “Give them back.”
“I don’t think you really want them.” I shifted the hand holding the ticket behind my back, and before I could prepare myself, she lunged at me, reaching both arms around my body in a giant bear hug in an effort to wrestle them from my grip.
“Isaid, give them back,” she growled.
My body vibrated with laughter as I struggled to hold onto them. Somewhere from the bowels of the library, the school librarian appeared. Frown in place. Eyes laser beams as she ground out, “This is not a playground, you two!”
I spluttered another laugh at the same time Penelope wrapped her hand around mine, and I stilled, gripping hers back as she stared up into my eyes. And for the briefest of moments, I knew those eyes—from somewhere else—maybe it was from a dream, or maybe I was imagining things, but she felt familiar in a way she hadn’t before.
My gaze shifted to her lips, close enough to mine that I could smell her fruity Chapstick. And I wondered what it would be like to kiss her, to press my lips to hers, when she pulled away, pink-cheeked and flustered.
Averting her gaze, she fisted the tickets in her hand as I worked to draw air into my lungs.
“It’s just that it’s a school night. I’ll have to get permission first,” she said.
