Page 67 of Limbo

Jordan’s attention snaps back to the box. He drops onto the couch and rips open the flaps like his life depends on it. He digs, his frustration growing until he dumps out the packing peanuts. More sorting before he finally realizes the box holds—

“Nothing?” Furious, he jumps up. “She got in my head overnothing?”

Jordan starts across the living room, and I hang up on Gavin. Whatever happens next won’t involve anyone else. Just us.

I step out of the way of the door just in time. It narrowly misses me when Jordan bolts out and down the steps, oblivious to me standing a few feet away. He storms toward where they park their vehicles. I’ll give the guys this one. So that he couldn’t go anywhere, they insisted Johnny conveniently borrow his Jeep. A fact that appears to hit him halfway across the lawn because he stops and breaks into a stream of curses.

I follow him down the steps, reaching the bottom right before he turns around. He freezes when he sees me, and I can’t remember a damn thing I planned to say when our gaze meets. His brow dips in confusion while we stare at each other, and I worry my stunt might have broken him.

“Good afternoon, beautiful,” I say, my fingers tightening around the cup.

He says nothing, but his eyes lower to the picture of him wearing a towel, an obnoxiously pink hat, and a frilly purple scarf on my T-shirt. I twist around and pull my hair out of the way, so he can readMission Tell Jordan Sorryprinted across the back.

When I turn, he stares at me. The most dramatic person I’ve ever met is not reacting at all. Missions, T-shirts, and coffee might have worked to win me over, but they appear to do little the other way around. Confidence in my plan prepares to swan-dive off a cliff when he starts walking toward the house. I wait, wondering if he’ll go right past me and inside, hating me forever, but then he slows down.

“For future reference,” he says, stopping in front of me, “everything at once is overkill.”

My nerves vanish as his mouth turns up, and I let out a breath before sipping the coffee I brought him. “You know, I was a little worried about that.”

“Pro tip: spread it out over a couple of hours.”

I check the invisible yet synchronized watch on my wrist. “Sorry, but I’m working under rather restrictive time constraints since someone plans on fleeing the country.”

A grin spreads across his face, and he closes the last few steps between us. “Let’s fast-forward then, shall we?”

Jordan grasps my face and kisses me. It brings all the missing air rushing back at once, the last of the heaviness gone. I want nothing more than to breathe the real air and feel his lips on mine, but my well-rehearsed apology speech starts pouring out. Most words end up mumbled against his mouth as he continues to kiss me. About halfway through it, he pulls back.

“Your apology is distracting me from forgiving you.”

I smile, and he looks at me in a way that rights all the wrongs between us, everything between us seamlessly shifting back into place. The past two weeks are done, over, and I never want to think about them again.

He grabs the coffee and slides his hand down to mine. “So, the box?” he asks, walking up the steps.

“A decoy. The idea was for you to chase after me. Full circle and all.”

He shakes his head and holds open the door. “What if it didn’t work?”

“Gavin was going to get you all riled up over it until you did.” The only backup plan without the risk of Jordan winding up in need of emergent care. “Your friends are not loyal to you in the least, by the way.”

From the entryway, we veer off to a kitchen so Jordan can throw his already-empty cup away. He leads me into the living room. Gavin smirks, finishing the cleanup of green packing peanuts Jordan left behind. He proudly sports his team T-shirt and straightens to guarantee Jordan notices.

Which he most certainly does, his eyes narrowing at me. “Oh, come on.”

“What? They were cheaper by the dozen.” I wink at him.

Gavin bounds up the stairway, calling back, “Face it, Waters. You’ve met your match.”

I pull out my phone to check the time, knowing I need to get on the road to Lauren’s house soon. Jordan has disappeared when I glance over my shoulder. His voice drifts in from the kitchen. It sounds like he’s canceling his cab. If only I could abandon my plans as easily, we could stay locked up together for the entire weekend.

Connor texts,Taking Cate to a pickup game at school.

Arms slip around my waist, and Jordan presses his nose against my neck. Chills, shivers, all the amazing feels he brings with him delivered. I hate leaving without giving him a real explanation and apology. I hate leaving period, but I promised Cate we’d do something fun for break.

“Does this mean you aren’t going to Tijuana to bang chicks?” I ask.

He kisses the space between my neck and shoulder, lips still on my skin when he says, “Not unless you want to come bang chicks with me.”

I reach back and run my hand through his hair. “I have another idea.”

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