Page 109 of Wish You Were Mine
I scanned the room for Nora and spotted her across the living room, deep in conversation with the guy she’d been crushing on for weeks.
Instead of walking up and disrupting her, I sent Nora a quick text.
Me: Hey, I just left with you know who. Didn’t want to interrupt. I’ll text you later.
With that, I slipped out the front door and into the cool night air, my heart already picking up speed.
32
OWEN
I hitthe unlock button when I saw Lucy step out of the big yellow house, fully expecting her to slide into the front seat beside me. But instead of doing that, she walked right past the passenger door and opened the back one.
Okay…not what I was expecting.
“Hi—” I said, twisting in my seat to look at her as she climbed in. “What are you doing back there?”
She shut the door, a little breathless as she buckled her seatbelt. “I figured if anyone was watching me leave, getting in the back would be less suspicious since your car looks like it could be from a rideshare service.”
“Oh.” I let out a quiet laugh and turned back toward the windshield. “That’s actually genius.”
“I thought so.”
“Sorry I took so long,” I said, casting a quick glance in the rearview mirror as I eased the car onto the street. “Ian likes to talk.”
She smiled faintly. “It’s fine.”
We drove in silence for a moment. Not uncomfortableexactly, but not the same kind of ease we usually had when we were together. Did something happen at the party?
Or was she just not as excited to hang out with me as I’d hoped?
“So…” I said, clearing my throat, “you still up for that movie?”
“Sure.”
Okay…Not exactly the enthusiastic response I’d been hoping for.
Had something changed within the last hour? Had hanging out with all those people from school made Lucy realize that hanging out with her chemistry professor wasn’t actually as cool as she’d thought?
I drummed my fingers once against the wheel, trying to shake the feeling, and turned onto another street.
But I probably should have chosen a different way home because the sight of the sprawling mansion on the corner, with its expansive lawn and stately trees, just brought the reality of what I was doing suddenly into focus.
Because the huge brick home glowing in the warm yellow light just ahead was the president’s house.
The house where Lucy’s mom and dad currently lived.
My jaw tensed. And for an irrational moment, I wondered if President Archibald had some kind of sixth sense. Like, could he somehowfeelme driving past with his daughter in the backseat?
Did he have some sort of fatherly radar that told him his daughter was doing something he didn’t approve of?
No…that was just my paranoia talking. He was probably fast asleep. Dreaming about the big donation Ian’s dad had just made to the university to help build a much-needed parking structure.
“Did you like living there?” I asked Lucy, trying to keep things casual as we drove past the big house.
“It was okay.” She followed my gaze. “Kind of strange, though, since it wasn’t really our home. Just the house the university gave us.”
“I can imagine.” I paused. “How long did you live there?”
