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“Are you joking? Of course not,” Chase immediately replied. His voice was filled with so much disgust my cheeks went hot with embarrassment. We hadn’t kissed, Chase was right, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t wanted to. And judging by the repulsion in his voice, I must have read the moment between us completely wrong. He was probably just leaning toward me to wrench his precious book out of my hands.

I frowned and quickly placed the book back on the pile. His reaction was exactly the reason why I couldn’t live with him the entire year. I schooled my features to cover the damage he’d inflicted with his cutting words before I faced Tessa and brother again.

“You should probably be grateful we’re both still in one piece after locking us in a room together for such a long time,” I said. I hazarded a glance in Chase’s direction as I spoke. His arms were folded across his chest, and his expression was as cool as ever. My words didn’t affect him, and I shouldn’t have been surprised.

I walked from the room without a backward glance, my heart racing as I tried to gather my thoughts. I entered my bedroom with Tessa right behind me and fell onto my bed as I tried to process the last seven minutes.

“What happened in there?” Tessa murmured.

I pulled a pillow to my chest and hugged it tightly as I rolled onto my back to stare at the ceiling. Tessa lay down beside me so we were resting side by side.

“Ally?” she prompted when I hadn’t replied.

I hugged my pillow a little tighter. “I don’t know what happened in there.”

“You seem upset. Did he do something?”

A breathy laugh left my lips as I shook my head. “It was Chase, what do you think?”

“I think you seem awfully rattled.”

Was that what I was feeling right now? Rattled? It felt something closer to rejection. “I just struggle to be around him,” I explained. “You know that.”

“But when we opened the door, you guys were sitting so close, and it looked like you were about to kiss…”

I let out a laugh of disbelief at the suggestion. “Chase wasn’t about to kiss me. You heard him, he couldn’t have sounded more disgusted by the suggestion.”

“I don’t know,” Tessa replied. “I thought he sounded a little too defensive, like that was exactly what he’d been thinking.”

I moved onto my side to look at my friend. “You’re imagining things.”

“Am I?” she asked.

“Of course, you are.”

She pursed her lips and tilted her head as she looked at me. “Well, if you’re sure…” she said, clearly struggling to believe me.

“I am.” The firmness in my voice put an end to the conversation and dismissed any lingering doubts that churned in my stomach.

Chase probably just wanted his book back, and there was no way he was trying to kiss me. But when I woke up the next morning and found his copy ofThe Book Thieflying right outside my door, I had to wonder if perhaps I’d been wrong.

18

Ally

“This is a nice surprise,”my grandma said, her face lighting up as I joined her and Cora. The sun was out, so they were sitting in the small courtyard off my grandma’s room drinking coffee and gossiping like always. Grandma beckoned me to sit in the chair closest to her while Cora poured me a drink.

“I hope you’re not springing a book club meeting on us. It’s only been two weeks.” Cora’s eyes were filled with a mixture of worry and disapproval.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “No book club today, I just wanted to see you guys,” I said, earning a sigh of relief from Cora. She really wasn’t the biggest reader in our small group, but she wanted to be involved in everything The Three C’s did. “Where’s Connie this morning?”

Cora’s expression brightened substantially at the question. “Oh, she’s out taking a walk with Bart.”

“He asked her out?”

My grandma shook her head. “Not yet. I think he’s still working up the courage.”

“But he’d better do it soon,” Cora added. “We’re no spring chickens and can’t be wasting any time.”