Page 39 of The Sun and Her Star

I sling my arm over her shoulder and start us walking again.

“Ilikewalking, and the weather is gorgeous. Is it really far?” she cajoles.

“Hold on, let me see.” I pull out my phone and open my maps app and type in our destination.

She rises to her toes and tries to peek over my arm. “Ooh, where are we going?” she asks, and I lift my phone higher and out her line of sight. “Oh, you’re no fun,” she complains and drops back to walk normally.

“It’s a surprise,” I tease and she bumps me with her hip.

“Anotherone? I’m going to faint if you do one more amazing thing. I don’t even know what to do with everything we’ve done today.”

“Enjoy it. I know your birthday isn’t for another couple of months, but once school starts, I knew finding time to do this would be impossible. So, I’m just glad we could do it now.” I read the directions and see the walk is less than fifteen minutes away.

“Yeah, me too. Especially because here, I don’t have to be eighteen to drink.” She nods enthusiastically.

“I don’t even know how you can stand the taste of alcohol.” I grimace.

“I don’t care about the taste, I like the way Ifeeeeel,”she coos.

“Well, just so long as you know the way youfeeeeelwon’t be so hot in the morning, knock yourself out. I’ll get us home safely.”

“Of course, you will. You’re my Grahamstar.” She gives me a squeeze around the waist.

“That name … Sunshine.”

“What? You know you love it!”

I do. But I’ll never stop giving her shit for it.

“This is fun. I wish we could see each other more often, you know?” she says. And it gives me the perfect segue into what I’ve been trying to work up the nerve to talk to her about.

“I’ve got one more year, and then I’m going to grad school.” I give her a sidelong glance. She’s looking straight ahead, but I can see the lifted corner of her mouth in profile.

“Are you going to stay at UCLA?” she asks, scuffing the toe of her sandals on the wide bricked pavement and shooting me a sidelong glance that gives me the confidence I need to get the rest of my words out.

“I was thinking … I could apply to schools in Las Vegas,” I say tentatively.

She skids to a stop and lets go of my waist. She whirls around to stand in front of me. Her eyes are wide with surprise, her mouth gaping open.

“Are you serious?” she shouts.

“Uh, yeah … why not? My grades are good. Extracurricular sucks because I work, but I think I have enough to get into the master’s in education programs at UNLV, I mean, if you—”

“Oh my God, Graham,” she screams and then launches herself at me. She wraps her limbs around me before I can even think to try and catch her.

“That is the best news, ever!” She squeals as she wraps her arms around my neck and squeezes so tight, she cuts off my oxygen.

But man, what a way to go.

She smells so good.

Feels even better.

I want to cup the back of her neck, press my lips to her throat and kiss my way up to her mouth. One day soon, I will.

“Do Iwantyou to? Is that a real question?” She loosens her grip on my neck and leans backward and stares at me like I’m a crazy person. “Let’s see. Do I want my favorite human being in the whole wide world tofinallylive in the same place as me, so I can see him more than three times a year?”

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “Comeon.”

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