Page 43 of Just Forever

“You’ll do great,” Ryk says. “You know that, right?”

“Now you’ve jinxed it.”

“That’s not a thing.”

“I guess we’ll see.”

He laughs softly, chest vibrating under mine.

“Do you remember the first time we met?”

I lift my head and look at him. “That was in kindergarten. I’m pretty sure neither of us remembers when we first met.”

“I do,” he says.

“No, you don’t,” I scoff.

He just looks at me, lips quirked in an amused, enigmatic smile.

“You don’t,” I say again.

I study him some more.

“Do you?”

“I do. You were wearing yellow shorts and a blue T-shirt with a picture of a yellow excavator on it, and you had the biggest blue eyes I’d ever seen in a person’s face. I think it’s a bit of an optical illusion because they’re so light.” He swipes his thumb overthe skin under my left eye. “You tripped Jason Wheeler when he kicked a ball at some kid’s head.” He grins. “That’s when I decided to seduce you.”

“Wow. You were way more advanced than the average kindergartner. Just out of curiosity, what’s the timeline here? We met when we were five. You were intrigued by the immediate display of violence. And seventeen years later, boom. Seduction.”

He laughs again. “I wanted to seduce you to be my friend. I wanted to make you like me.”

I raise my brows. I’ve never heard this story. “Really? Why?”

He shrugs. “You were just so damn cool.”

I let out a kind of scoff-snort hybrid, immediately contradicting Ryker. “That’s not the word I’d use.”

“You were. I really wanted to be your friend.”

“Success.”

His fingertips map the edge of my jaw for a second before he meets my gaze. “I guess technically I got more than I bargained for.”

“Are you complaining?”

“Just stating a fact.” He laughs and wiggles a bit when I pinch his side. “Come on. Time to get up. You have stuff to do.”

A shower and breakfast later,I’m dressed and ready to go. It feels like a slice of routine. Something normal. Something I’ve done hundreds of times before. It’s just going to school. And unlike a lot of other things, I’m actually good at school.

That helps calm my nerves a bit.

Plus, once I’m up and on the go, it’s easier because it’s like I’m crossing off items on a to-do list.

Put on shoes. Check.

Open door. Check.

Head outside. Check.

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