Page 111 of Heartbeat

“What?”

“Babe.”

“But I dunno the pin.”

“Forty-seven, fifty-one.”

“What’s 4751?”

“My best time at the hundred free last year.”

“You swam a 47 point 51!” I said, thoroughly impressed.

“Tom?”

“Sorry.” I typed in his pin.

As soon as it was unlocked, a note with the words “vanilla jelly” popped up.

“Wha-what the fuck?” I stared at the screen and then back at him in disbelief.

He raised both eyebrows proudly, leaned back, and folded his arms.

“That’s very good,” I told him.

“What can I say? It’s a gift,” he said, not at all humble, then amended seriously, “and a curse.”

I huffed. “I can imagine.”

“I’m just good at noticing things.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Uh-huh.” He nodded.

“What other things do you notice?”

“Things that go beyond the obvious.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna need more than that.”

He put his book on the nightstand, closed the donut box, and placed it farther down the edge of the bed. Then he scooted down a bit and turned on his side, resting his hand under his pillow.

“Your lip,” he said. “You bite your lip a lot, and it means different things depending on the situation.”

“It does?”

“Uh-huh.” He nodded. “It can mean you’re nervous, amused, or horny. Sometimes, a variation or combination of two or more.” He looked at my lips as he spoke.

I smiled.

“Your, uh, your eyes tend to change color, too, depending on the light,” he said. “They can go from the strongest, darkest green, to the most intriguing gray with these sparks of yellow, just like that.” He snapped his fingers.

“Huh.” Even I didn’t know that.

“You always look at things. Things other people usually don’t pay attention to,” he said. “Like the way a leaf flies over the concrete, or how strangers talk to one another.”

“Yeah?”

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