Page 63 of Wish You Were Mine
We were almost to the intersection where I’d need to veer right for the science building. She was headed to the dining hall in the student center. Our impromptu walk was coming to an end, but she slowed slightly, like something else had occurred to her.
“Hey…do you happen to have the numbers for Theo’s friends?” she asked. “Maybe Miles and Bash? Anyone else you think he’d want there? I was hoping to text out the invites soon, but I don’t want to be suspicious and ask Theo for a ‘friend list.’”
I nodded. “I can send those to you. I should have a handful of numbers at least.”
“Perfect.”
We both paused at the edge of the sidewalk, a little awkwardly, realizing at the same time what that meant.
“I, uh, I guess I’ll need your number to do that,” I said, glancing around instinctively as I pulled out my phone again.
No one seemed to be paying attention—just a stream ofstudents rushing past us, bundled in coats, backpacks bouncing as they crossed toward their respective buildings.
“Oh, right. Of course,” she said, fishing out her own phone.
“So…what’s your number?” I asked, thumb poised to enter it.
She gave it to me, and I typed it in, then fired off a quick message:
Me: This is Theo’s bartender friend.
Her phone buzzed a second later, and she looked down at the screen, a tiny smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
I saved her contact info under the safest thing I could think of:Theo’s sister.
She peeked at my screen as I tapped it in. “Nervous one of the other professors will see your phone in the faculty lounge?”
“I might be slightly paranoid,” I admitted, pocketing it again.
She gave me a knowing smile but didn’t press it.
I glanced to the right, toward the science building. “Well, I gotta go this way.”
“And I’m headed this way.” She nodded, motioning to the left.
“I guess I’ll see you in the lab this afternoon.”
“Yep.” Her smile tilted playfully. “Can’t wait.”
I watched her go for a beat, wondering if that had been sarcasm because chemistry definitely wasn’t her favorite subject. But who knows, maybe there was a part of her that looked forward to it for the new reasons I did.
I sat at my desk near the back of the lab, pretending to review quizzes while doing a truly pathetic job of not watching Lucy Archibald.
She was packing up her station with Brody, chatting easily as they wiped down their workspace. I’d only had to step in once—when their thermometer wasn’t fully submerged in the calorimeter during the enthalpy change experiment. Brody had caught it halfway through my explanation, fixed the issue without fuss, and double-checked the measurements like he’d been born holding a pipette.
Which…made him a really solid lab partner for Lucy.
Almost too solid, though…
Sure, Lucy deserved someone competent. But did it have to be a star athlete who made her laugh like that?
A six-foot-four golden boy who leaned in close enough to look like he’d be happy to help with more than her chemistry homework.
Okay, so maybe that was exactly the kind of academic partnership I should be encouraging.
If only it didn’t cause a hollow thud in my chest every time I watched them work together.
They finished packing up along with the rest of the class. Lucy shrugged on her coat. And when they walked to the door, Brody held it open for her.
