Fed up with feeling like I’m at a dinner party in a Jane Austen novel, I tell everyone what I’ve learned so far about hedge riding. Eyes lighting up, Avery digs her phone out of her crocheted bag and starts typing a list of all her favorite resources.
“Remember, don’t do any of this alone,” she warns before hitting send.
“Oh, I know,” I assure her as my phone pings in my backpack.
On our way out of the student center, I pull Leo aside. He glances over his shoulder before coming nearer, giving me a smile that makes my knees go weak.
“Will you help me?” I ask. “I want to try another meditation. For an animal guide.”
“Of course.” His fingers graze my faerie pin, then trail down the length of my ponytail.
“Sunday, maybe?”
He nods. “But why don’t you come over to my place? That way we won’t have to worry about Liv.”
Heat ripples up my chest and down my thighs. Are we still talking about hedge riding?
I walk to Brit Lit all hot and bothered, but as I settle down, the misgivings creep back in. Why the secrecy? What does Leo want? He said it was me, so what’s standing in his way?
After class, I drop my backpack off in my room and go across the hall to help Caitlyn edit her political science paper. When I get back an hour later, Liv starts in on me about going with her tonight to the party at O-Chi. I tell her the truth—that I have too much work to do—but she’s not taking no for an answer. I’m about to escape to the library when I get a text from Leo:
Meet me at the library?
Me: I’m actually already headed there. See you soon.
On the short walk across the quad, I wrestle my excitement down to a low hum, but the butterflies come fluttering back as I reach the library’s third floor. No surprise, I find Leo among the history stacks, sitting perpendicular to the shelves, his legs stretched out across the aisle.
When I take my place beside him on the floor, he scoots until the whole side of his body presses against mine. He’s warm and smells so good. How am I supposed to study when all I can think about is kissing him?
I try to read for Brit lit while he browses book after book from a stack at his knee. Occasionally we sneak frosted animal crackers out of his backpack. We’ve fallen right back into our usual library routine, although it feels different now that we’ve ventured out of the friend zone.
“Have you read this?” I ask him, holding upSir Gawain and the Green Knight.
He nods. “Great story.”
“Is he supposed to be Pan?”
“The Green Knight? Yeah, lots of people think so.”
“It makes sense. He’s both natural and supernatural.”
Leo leans in close to see the pages. “Where are you?”
I glance up at him, fighting the urge to slide my fingers along his jaw and bring his lips down to mine. “He’s just gotten to the lord’s house.”
“You’re getting to the best part.”
“Yeah, but I have some concerns about the lady. Is she trying to seduce him?” Surely Gawain is too strong and too pure to give in to her wiles.
Leo smirks.
“You’re not going to tell me, are you?”
“I wouldn’t want to ruin it for you.” His mouth is inches from mine, his voice low and warm. Intimate. But instead of closing the distance between us, he snatches my hand and presses his lips to the back of my fingers. And god, it’s such a turn-on.
I clear my throat as I lay my book face down on my lap. “What areyoureading?”
His eyes have already returned to the words in front of him. “A book on Paracelsus.”
