Page 9 of No Way Home
“Hmm,” Velvet mused. “I think I will. 167, may I have your card?”
“You may.” I grabbed one from my back pocket and slipped it through the slot in the fabric.
“He even has nice hands,” Foot Cop said.
“He has one nice hand,” Fletcher said. “The other one’s basically a sad little T. rex arm growing straight out of his armpit.”
“Seriously?” I jammed both hands through the slit and flapped them together. “See? Two perfectly nice hands.”
“Yep. Still a fan,” Velvet said.
“Do not mock the limb-different,” Foot Cop barked at Fletch. “You know there are people who are actually born that way. I’m outta here,” she said to Velvet. “I cannot—no—I will not settle for…that.”
Fletch threw his hands up as they walked away.
“Sorry, dude,” I said. “Good luck.”
His shoulders slumped. “Thanks. I’m gonna need it.”
Shoes back on, I jogged past the other guys, surprised by how stupidly excited I felt.
When I got to the door, I took a deep breath, prayed she was as beautiful as she sounded, and stepped into the hall.
Chapter Three
BOWEN
Velvet wasas beautiful as she sounded. Actually more.
We’d spent the last hour traipsing over the grounds of UVA—from the Rotunda, to Scott Stadium, to Beta Bridge. My nerves grew more taut every second I was with her. Velvet’s eyes were this unreal shade of green, her skin smooth like glass, and her blond, chin-length bob—a style I’d seen on plenty of women this summer—looked next level on her. And that was just her beauty from the neck up.
My gaze dropped, checking out her gorgeous long legs. Again. I couldn’t stop, thanks to her outfit. I sent up a quick prayer.Thank you, God, for this incredibly smart, adorably sexy girl who took a chance on my toes. And thank you for those legs,I added quickly.Amen.
Was it okay to use the word sexy in a prayer? I didn’t know, but it was honest. Everything about her was sexy, and the best part? She had no idea what she was doing to me.
“Ahem.” She cleared her throat like she was about to give a very important speech and read the fourth clue:
“Walk apart but still be heard,
Where stone repeats your every word.
Stand at the curve and spill one truth?—
A secret for a secret. One from each of you.”
She peeked up at me, cheeks flushing just as they had every time we’d made eye contact. “Any guesses?”
I stared at her, transfixed by the way her lashes fanned out at the corners.She asked you a question, dweeb. But I couldn’t remember what it was. I clicked my tongue. “I got nothing.”
She shook the paper, eyes dancing. “It’s the Whispering Wall. How could you not know that?”
I rubbed my chin, reading the clue again, no idea what the Whispering Wall even was. “Guess I should’ve gotten that from the part about stone repeating your every word.”
She tried not to smile. “The only one you got so far was the clue about The Rotunda.” Which anyone who’d read a pamphlet about the campus would’ve gotten. It was that easy. She tilted her head, scrutinizing me.
I was about to blurt that I was an incoming freshman when her brows shot up. “You’re not a UVA student, are you? Do you go to the community college?”
It wasn’t at all what I’d expected, and I couldn’t tell how she felt about that. But now I was curious. “Would it bother you if I said yes?”
