Page 231 of Something Rad
Robbie’s fingers move to my cheekbone, circling it. “And you’ll sit with me at lunch this week?”
An unexpected laugh burst out of me. “What?Really?”
Robbie pauses the movement of his fingers, meeting my gaze and waiting for me to answer his question. I can hear his voice inside of my head quipping,You heard me.
“I…” I stammer. “I have to study for an algebra test this week…”
Robbie tilts his head at me, beginning his trail along my face again. “I can sit there at the same lunch table as you while you do that,” he says.
“Well…if you really want to–”
“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want to, Cooper.”
I press my lips tightly together. “Fine. Lunch then.”
“And you’ll let me drive you to school?”
“You’re pushing it, Summers.”
Robbie’s thumb presses into the center of my chin, a smile breaking across his face. “Aren’t I always?”
I can’t help but smile as well. Because, yes.Yes, he is.
I let out a sigh as Robbie’s fingers brush the side of my jaw. “Yes to lunch. No to the ride.”
No to confined spaces alone with you. At least for a few days. Until I can get my head on straight.
“Deal,” Robbie utters, the tip of his thumb running along the outline of my bottom lip, his eyes tracking the motion intently.
“Robbie?” I breathe.
“Yeah, Cooper?”
“Why are you doing that?” I ask.
“Hmm?”
“Why are you…tracing me?”
Robbie hums, seeming to be lost in thought as he moves his thumb to follow the same path across my top lip. “I’m just trying to memorize you, Cooper.”
“Why?” I ask him.
“Just in case I ever manage to lose you again.” His finger goes back to the bridge of my nose. “I can’t let myself forget anything. I’d already have a hard enough time sleeping without wracking my brain for how many of these nearly invisible freckles you have.” His hand shifts up, fingers brushing the outer corner of my eye. “Or attempting to recall every shape and color of storm these babies hold within them.” His finger trails painfully slow down my face, eventually reaching my bottom lip once more. “Or trying to remember the exact curve of your mouth, the naturally reddish tint it holds even before you put that red lipstick over it that makes me go damn near insane, the way your bottom lip is just a little bigger than your top, and how it feels dragging between my teeth.”
I don’t realize how close we’ve gotten until Robbie’s forehead presses against mine. We stand there for a while, our breaths mingling, me staring up at Robbie, him staring down at my mouth. His fingers flex against my hip as he pulls me the slightest inch closer. “I’m taking it slow,” he mutters.
“Right,” I nod, breathless, my forehead stuck against Robbie’s forcing him to nod as well. “Very slow.”
Robbie’s eyes are glued to mine for so long, I start to wonder if one of us is frozen. Then, suddenly, he leans down, ducking his head into the crook of my neck. And then he does the last thing I could have expected. He lets the hold of his fingers loosen on my hip, sliding his arms against my side and around my back until he fully wraps me in a hug.
My spine straightens, arching in surprise. My arms reflexively come up, wrapping around Robbie’s neck. And then, I let out a sigh. One so heavy, that it feels like it releases two long months’ worth of emotions, tension, and longing. I sink into his hold, my face pressing against his chest, my still semi-damp hair easily soaking into the front of his shirt. But he doesn’t seem concerned about it.
I don’t think either of us are concerned with much of anything right now.
We stand there for so long, just holding one another. It occurs to me that we’ve never done this. Never just hugged. Not once. And when Robbie subtly shifts his head just enough to smell my hair, this suddenly feels more intimate than anything else we’ve done. My eyes flutter shut, soaking in every moment of it, willing this, willingus, to just last forever.
The words ring out clear in my head, almost as if I’ve said them out loud.
