He takes the card from me and frowns down at the pin. “Because of your Halloween costume, I guess. And it goes with the book, in a way.”
“Does it?” I wish I could get more than two words out at a time, but my tongue is all in knots.
“Anne’s a child of nature, just like Pearl. If you ask me, they’re both faeries.” He hands me back the card. “And so are you.”
My eyes flit back and forth between his and the silver pin. I’m breathless. Overcome.
“Um—” He looks down at his feet. “Maybe you could use it as a bookmark, you know, if you don’t want to wear it.”
If only I could speak and relieve his discomfort. I’ve never been given anything as heartfelt as this book and this pin. I feel so seen, and it frightens me a little.
“No.” Heart racing, I sweep the front of my hair to the side and slide the pin in to hold it back.
Leo smiles and my knees go liquid.
With the back of a finger, he brushes the ends of the trapped tresses from my cheek. Then abruptly snatches back his hand.
He wants you. Bad.And you want him.
I should probably stop staring at his mouth.
He murmurs my name and pulls me close. “I’m going to miss you.”
I fall into his hug, wrapping my arms around his broad shoulders and burrowing into his neck. “I’m going to miss you, too.”
“Take care of yourself.”
“I will.”
“Now, get inside before you freeze to death.”
I hugAnne of Green Gablesto my chest. “Thank you.” It’s all I can say.
“You’re welcome.”
I turn away before I can give in to the temptation to throw myself back into his arms. As I reach the door to Newberry, I look back over my shoulder, but he’s already gone.
CHAPTER TWENTY
The O’Leary’shome in Raleigh is a three-storied, white-pillared, multi-terraced, antebellum mansion with custom-made drapes and fresh flowers in rooms no one uses. Every morning we’re served a full breakfast prepared by the cook, and each evening I crash in my bed in my guest suite, my sheets turned down by the maid.
Alexander Sr. and Nicole are gracious hosts, and frankly easier to be around than my own parents. We have one brief conversation about Rush, but other than that, Nicole doesn’t try to convince me one sorority is better than another or lecture me about what to wear or how to act during Rush Week. Alex even reminds me thatnosorority is better than the wrong sorority. Zander’s response? “O-Chi Sweetheart is better than them all.”
The whole week, the O’Learys keep me so busy I don’t have time to dwell on the weird restlessness that’s snaking between my bones. During the days, Nicole takes Zander’s brother’s girlfriend and me downtown for lunch, mani-pedis, and boutique shopping. And in the evenings, when there’s no official event planned, we go out with Zander’s childhood friends.
All the dinner parties, bar hopping, and family gatherings are abit much for me. Okay, more than a bit. But Zander is sweet and attentive the whole time. He sticks close to my side and whispers family members’ names in my ear when I inevitably forget who I was talking to. And every night, when he sneaks into my room, he asks if I’ve been having fun.
“Yes, of course,” I say. Because sometimes I have had fun.
But only sometimes.
This—all this elegance and hobnobbing—is Zander’s real life, not O-Chi. And yet somehow, as different as they are, he fits in just as well here as he does at the frat house. Me, on the other hand? It feels like nothing in my life fits, not even my own skin.
It’s no better at home in Virginia. The evening I arrive, my parents spend all of dinner drilling me about the O’Learys. It doesn’t take long for Dad and Jamie to lose interest, but Mom is relentless. She’s annoyed at me for not taking a million pictures and for not knowing the thread count of the sheets I slept in. But at least she gets to ooh and aah over my expensive, dip powder manicure.
As soon as I can get away from the table, I dash up to my room and kickstart a Discord chat with the Clairs. After the exhausting week I’ve had, I desperately need to get my feet back on the ground. Avery gripes about her sister’s equestrian tournament, even though she’s obviously proud her sister won second place, and Leo tells us his and Robin’s search for the ley line in Asheville was successful. I assume that means the line was where they thought it would be, but what else constitutes successful? What does one do with a ley line once one has found it?
As we chat, I notice Leo’s number is coming across in his name, not Robin’s.
