Page 15 of No Way Home
And loved ramen.
And was pre-med at…UVA.
Maggie somebody or other? I pressed a fist to my forehead, trying to remember. I vaguely recalled him saying Maggie was short for something. Griff had been trying to get her to go out with him, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to date a Dupree. Also, she was afraid of falling for him when they were both heading back to different colleges in a month.
I strode across the tiny room, eyes wild, searching for something with her name on it. There was a basket on the counter full of mail.
I rifled through the envelopes. “Abilene Carter,” I hissed.“Abilene Carter.Abilene Carter. Abilene Carter.” I almost exhaled with relief.
But then I flipped the last one over.
“Magnolia Hollis.”
I dropped the bills like they’d burned me and tried to breathe through the disappointment. Velvet was Griffin’s Maggie. “You have got to be freaking kidding me.”
Serendipity?
More like a cosmic kick to the teeth.
Then, as if I was stuck inside a fire drill from hell—at the same time, the toilet flushedandher phone started bellowing again—WEE-OOO, WEE-OOO, WEE-OOO!
Maybe in some alternate universe, I would’ve stayed. Would’ve fought for her. Would’ve told Griffin to suck it and given her the chance to choose.
But I, Bowen Davis Dupree, lived inthisuniverse. Where what I wanted didn’t matter. Where if Griffin liked a girl, I’d choke on my feelings till it killed me.
I yanked the door open, gave the Twister mat one last longing glance, and got myself the heck out of there.
Chapter Five
MAGNOLIA
ONE MONTH LATER
Standing next to Griffin Dupree,a guy I’d met volunteering at the rescue squad earlier that summer, I took in his childhood bedroom. I already knew he was firefighter-obsessed. But this was straight out of a childhood daydream. Framed firetruck schematics, a helmet hanging on the wall like it was ready for duty, and a ceiling rope that had probably seen more than a few pajama-clad fire rescues. There was even a fire hydrant nightlight, glowing in the corner like an eternal flame.
Whenever I teased him about his nonstop firefighter talk, he always said, “What do you expect?” Then he’d tousle that thick mop of hair that was honestly more auburn than orange.
He twined our fingers together and I smiled. He’d asked me out the first night we met but I’d turned him down. Not because he wasn’t cute or because I didn’t like his personality. He was and I did. But he was a Virginia Tech Hokie and I was a University of Virginia Cavalier—both rising juniors. Being pre-med was rigorous. I didn’t have time to be tied down in a long-distance relationship. Or tied up, stalking his location or social media—which I knew I’d do, being two and a half hours away.
He was confident we could do the non-exclusive thing—date whenever we were both home and give each other space during the semester. I wasn’t sure I was capable of being someone’s part-time girlfriend. But he wouldn’t stop asking.
Two weeks ago, I was still smarting over the rude disappearance of my Sole Mates date. So when Griffin invited me to the new Marvel movie, I figured, why not? I needed a distraction. A cute one at that. We had so much fun, I’d seen him every day since.
I guess he thought we were getting serious because last night he’d asked if I’d come over for dinner to meet ‘the fam’. When I’d hesitated, he assured me this branch of the family tree was the least celebrity out of the entire group. ‘Famous by association’ were his exact words. Which did put me a bit at ease. But I’d seen pre-med students’ social media posts go wrong, killing their lifelong dreams in less than a day. Med school admissions committees looked ateverything. Yeah. I did not need to end up on TikTok with a Dupree.
He was watching me again.
I smiled, trying to act casual. “Ever think of redecorating your room?”
He chuckled. “My mom almost cries every time I bring it up. So…” He shrugged.
I melted a little. My dad always said you could tell how a guy was going to treat his future wife by the way he treated his mother. I’d met her when we walked in. Lemon was gorgeous, sweet, and perfectly hospitable. It was no wonder that Griffin adored her. I’d meet everyone else in a few minutes—except for his younger sister, Sophie, who was away at her church camp job, and his brother, Bowen, who I was honestly kind of nervous about.
Griff said I should steer clear of him. Apparently, Bowen was very good-looking, but he was the kind of guy who made it his mission to break the heart of every girl he dated. It was all I knew about him since he was basically a ghost online. He’dmade an Instagram about six years ago, but the profile picture was of Classic Steve from Minecraft, and he’d never posted a single time.
Yes, I’d stalked Griffin’s entire family. It’s called research.
Griffin said Bowen was adamant that none of his family post any pictures of him online. When I asked why, he gave me some vague answer about Bowen hating social media and the drama it brings.
