AS IT TURNS OUT, the world doesn’t automatically change after you decide something life-altering about yourself. In the days since I decided to quit baseball, I’ve gone to practice, made pierogi from scratch, watched three more movies with Mia (This Means War, Contact, and Clueless), played a double-header in Connecticut, gone to Red’s with Hunter, Rafael, Cooper, and Evan, and researched—however briefly—cooking programs in Europe. I also tried to make soufflé, but that was the biggest failure since my infamous creme brûlée debacle. I need to brush up on my baking skills. Maybe I should bring a dessert to Mia’s family’s barbecue tomorrow.
On second thought, poisoning my hopefully future in-laws would not be a smart move.
I also need to figure out how the fuck to talk about leaving baseball. There have been some good opportunities, but whenever I’m alone with someone and the words are on the tip of my tongue, I always find an excuse to keep my mouth shut. I want to tell Mia first, get her thoughts before I approach my family, but she’s been so busy working on her presentation for the symposium, I haven’t wanted to press. When she texted me earlier, asking me to rescue her from the lab, I nearly whooped aloud.
Now, she stares at the rows of brightly packaged junk food with her arms crossed tightly over her chest. “What happened to the importance of eating real meals? You went on a rant yesterday about why everyone should be buying organic eggs.”
I adjust my baseball cap. On the way to the lab, I made a plan. A nighttime adventure, complete with truth or dare. If she gives me a truth, I’ll give her one too. The right one, the only one I’ve been able to think about ever since I made the decision.
It’s the right one, but I need her support if I’m going to make it happen.
I nudge her hip with mine. “Balance is the key to a happy life.”
“You sound like a fortune cookie.”
“Thank you.”
She rolls her eyes. “This is your big plan? Stock up on snacks?”
“It’s not the whole plan. Where we’re going, we’ll need sustenance.”
“Which is where?”
“It’s a secret, obviously.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “You’re being unusually cryptic.”
“For example, I’m weak for Doritos.” I throw a bag of them into the basket. It took a little effort to find a store that was open this late, but we managed it in the form of a 24-hour drugstore just outside downtown Moorbridge. We’re the only ones here besides the woman behind the counter, who is busy playing TikToks on her phone at full volume, and a guy making a cup of coffee the next aisle over. “I’m also partial to Raisinets.”
Her nose wrinkles cutely. I’d kiss her, but considering the mood I found her in, it’s probably best to give her time to decompress first. It’s corny to say, but she goes to another planet when she works. I still don’t know why she’s been lying to her folks about what she’s studying, but I’m hoping she lets me in on that tonight, since I’m meeting them tomorrow. My family is complicated, but Mia’s seems to be on a completely different level.
“Raisinets?” she says. “What are you, a hundred years old?”
“I’ve been told I have an old soul.”
She gives me a little shove, reaching out to throw a box of Junior Mints into the basket. “If you’re going to buy candy, at least go for something good.”
“What about the Doritos? How are we feeling?”
“The Doritos are acceptable.” She walks to the refrigerated section. “The soda pick is what will make you or break you, Seb. You’re already on thin ice with the Raisinets, so choose wisely.”
“Oh, it’s Dr. Pepper. No contest.”
Her mouth drops open. “Can I revoke our relationship on the basis of irreconcilable differences?”
I reach around her to add a bottle of Dr. Pepper to the basket. “No take backs. That’s not how it works.”
She tucks a bottle of Coke underneath her arm. “Maybe I wouldn’t have given in if I knew there was no way out.”
I back her against the refrigerator door. She shivers, but keeps that smirk on her face. From the first fucking moment, I could sense that Mia is the kind of person who would rather die than back down once she’s made up her mind about something. The trick is to surprise her, to get under her skin in a way she can’t ignore. She might be toying with me, but she has her own weaknesses. Poking her—so she’ll poke me back, and we can tussle—makes me feel alive in a way I never have before.
So I kiss her.
And like every other time, there’s a split-second of surprise. I hope that never goes away, it’s too fucking cute. I feel her frown against my own lips, and then her smile as she winds her arms around me. The cold Coke digs in between my shoulder blades. “Brat,” I murmur. “You said you love me. I heard it.”
“Excuse me,” someone says.
We jump apart. The guy who had been making the coffee steps between us, reaching in for a water. Mia widens her eyes. They’re sparkling, thanks to the light overhead. Her smile takes my fucking breath away.
When the guy leaves, I say, “I catalog your smiles, you know.”
“What?”
I didn’t mean for that to slip out, but fuck it. We’re rolling with it. “Whether it’s a real smile or one you’re putting on. If it’s a smile to try and shut me up, or an invitation, or genuine happiness.”
Her smile widens. “What am I doing right now?”
“Oh, it’s genuine.”
“You sound confident.”
“You always smile for real after I kiss you.”
She pokes me hard in the ribs. “Weirdo.”
“I don’t hear a denial in there.”
She flounces past me, tossing her hair over her shoulder. I follow her to the counter, but I don’t see the woman from before.
“Where do you think she went?”
She shrugs as she looks around. “Ooh, an intercom.”
“I dare you to say something into it.”
She snorts. “Seriously?”
“Or you can tell me what’s going on with your family.”
She turns in another circle, but apparently decides the coast is clear, because she presses the button on the control, pulls the microphone over to her, and says, “Number seventeen, Sebastian Callahan, also known as Big Daddy, stepping up to bat.”
Her ridiculous nickname nearly makes me fall over with laughter. “Mia.”
“Standing at six-foot-two, a hundred sixty pounds, his bat is the biggest part of all—”
“Miss,” the woman drawls as she walks back to the counter. “Don’t touch the intercom.”
“WAS THAT THE BIG ADVENTURE?” Mia asks when we’re back in my Jeep. “A junk food raid, plus getting kicked out of”—she cranes her neck to peer at the neon sign—“24-Hour Drug?”
I turn on the car and check my mirrors before pulling out of the parking space. “No way. A late-night adventure always has multiple parts. We haven’t even started the game, officially.”
“What game?”
“Truth or dare, of course.”
She turns to me. I keep my eyes on the road, but relish in the way her hand clasps over my thigh. “You didn’t give me a choice!”
“Sure, I did. You could have given me the truth, but you chose the dare.”
“You’re lucky I love you.” She rubs her thumb over my jeans, an unconscious little motion. “Where are we going?”
“Depends if you choose truth or dare next.”
“I don’t get to ask you first?”
“Nope.”
She pouts. “That’s not fair.”
Once I’m stopped at a red light, I glance at her. “You’re the one who agreed to the adventure when I broke you out of the lab.”
She shrugs. Her bra strap—highlighter yellow, and distracting as fuck—slides down her arm. I look ahead again, swallowing down the part of me that wants to pull over and see how far back the seats of the Jeep go. We haven’t had a chance yet to take that experiment all the way.
“I’m asking anyway,” she declares.
“Oh?”
“You’re not the boss of me.”
“Nah, just the Big Daddy.”
“Sebastian!”
I swipe my hand through my hair as I smirk. “What? You set it up too perfectly.”
Her laughter sounds like the first song you blast on a long drive—anticipated, and extra sweet. “Truth or dare?”
“Fine.” I drum my fingers on the wheel as I make a right turn. We’re almost to campus, and from this entrance, it’s only a little further to get to the building I have in mind. “Um… truth.”
“How have you been sleeping? I haven’t heard you get up.”
I can’t help it; I glance over. “Going right in, are you?”
“I’ve been worried.”
“No nightmares since that one a little while ago. Although not much sleep, either. I’ve been watching MasterChef on mute while you’re asleep.”
“I guess I’ll take it.”
I grimace. “Could be worse. Truth or dare?”
“Truth.”
“What’s going on with your family?”
She sighs. “What’s the dare?”
“I know how to get to the top of the library bell tower.”
“Wh—oh.”
“Feeling brave tonight?”
Her eyes glitter in the light from the streetlamp overhead. “Fine. Bring it on.”
Typical Mia. I have the feeling she’d still have chosen the dare if it was between swallowing a sword and answering that question. But that’s fine, I can be patient. This is about taking her on an adventure, after all. I can’t be picky about how she plays my own game.
The Bassett-Kennedy Library is one of the tallest buildings on campus. It’s shaped like a ‘C,’ with two wings extending out from the center, but in the middle, an old, now unused bell tower rises like the spire of a church. Even though it’s frowned upon, a couple of fraternities have hazing that involves sneaking to the top of the tower. To the repeated exasperation of the university administration, the bell still clangs if you hit it. In the early 2000s, the president tried taking it away, but too many wealthy alumni complained, so it’s stayed exactly where it is, delicious catnip for college kids.
Pretty much every fraternity on campus wanted me and Cooper to join, but that life didn’t appeal to either of us, so our first semester, we snuck up ourselves and had a drink. You can see half of campus from here; the old brick buildings, the gentle hills, the carefully arranged trees.
I pull into the nearest parking lot. “You sure?”
She’s already pushing open the passenger door, the snacks and drinks shoved into her ever-present NASA tote bag. “They still have security on campus during the summer, you know.”
I shove my keys and wallet into my jeans pocket. “Go around the back.”
We could swipe into the building, which has all-hours access, and go up the staircase to the roof. The lock on the rooftop door to the tower isn’t that hard to pick, and the security camera never works. But there’s a service ladder that goes all the way up the side of the building, and this is a dare, after all.
Time to see just how stubborn my girl is.
She stares at the ladder like it’s a wall of fire. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“You chickening out?”
She practically bares her teeth at me. “No.”
I take a step in her direction, forcing her to angle her head up to meet my eyes. I take her chin in my hand. “I won’t push you if it’s too much.”
There’s pure steel in her eyes. “You want to keep those fingers?”
I let go of her and spread my arms out. “After you, angel.”
She climbs onto the ladder. Her butt wiggles cutely as she adjusts her weight. “If I fall, save my Junior Mints.”
“Absolutely not.”
She sticks her tongue out at me. “Rude.”
“Just don’t look at the ground. You’ll be fine.”
I stand at the bottom and watch as she climbs. When she’s up a few rungs, I pull myself up too.
“Oh, wow,” I hear her say when she gets to the top. “This is incredible.”
“Wait until you get into the tower.” I join her on the roof, wiping my hands on my jeans. “We just need to get the door open.”
“Oh,” she says. “I can pick the lock.”
I grin. “I was gonna do it.”
“Nah.” She fishes a hairpin out of her bag. Her smile looks like mine feels—bright and unfettered and more than a little giddy. “Truth or dare?”
