Page 81 of Lessons in Timing

Terri seemed genuinely lost for a moment, but then he shook it off and laughed. It sounded forced, though. “I don’t need a plan, Flinch. I do this shit for fun.”

“Youdidplan it.” My voice shook, but I kept talking. “You sent me that creepy threat online, and now you’ve cornered me with no one else around and— This isn’t the playground, Terri. We’re not kids anymore. This isn’t aprank. If you hit me, I’m going to the police.”

Terri leaned in. “Say that again.”

“HEY!”

We both glanced up, and my heart dropped. This time itwasfear. No, not fear.Horror.

Skyler stood haloed by the lone streetlamp that illuminated the stage door. His fists were clenched and so was his jaw, and he was glaring and he was so beautiful and heroic it took my breath away.

“Leave him alone.”

The hand pinning me to the wall dropped as Terri stepped away from me. I nearly collapsed onto the ground as Terri directed his full attention at Skyler. “Can I help you?” He gave that charming we’re-all-in-on-this-toxic-horseplay-am-I-right grin that shouldn’t have ever worked on anyone, but alwaysalwayshad.

“Don’t touch him,” Skyler said, though his eyes were on me, not Terri. I could feel my mouth hanging open.

Terri laughed again. “Dude, we’re just kidding around. Calm your shit.” The hand that had been clenched in my shirt a moment ago was still tightly fisted at his side. The knuckles were white.

Skyler was bigger than me, but Terri wasenormous, and Skyler didn’t exactly seem like he’d ever been in a fight before, and oh mygodI was going to get himkilled—

Skyler fished out his phone and held it up in plain sight. “This isn’t kidding around. It’s assault. I think you attacking him would be of interest to campus police. You know, as a joke.”

Terri laughed again. “You really think the cops are gonna care about a little rough-housing between friends?”

Skyler didn’t move or change his expression. “Is that what you think this looks like?”

This couldn’t actuallywork, could it? Terri was going to kill us both.

But his eyes lingered on the phone, which Skyler was holding remarkably still.

None of us moved. Or breathed.

Then—

“Catch you later, Flinch,” Terri muttered. He straightened up and away from me, and then he was gone, his dark silhouette disappearing into the night.

Unsurprisingly, my knees buckled and I slid down to the ground. It was nice and cool through my jeans, and I shut my eyes because I knew what was coming next. I could feel Skyler kneel next to me—not too close, because of course he wouldn’t want to loom over me like Terri just had because he wasso sweet—

“I can’t believe that worked,” he breathed. “Are you okay?”

“No!” I squeaked before I could stop myself, then buried my face in my hands.

“Robin, I’m so sorry, did he hurt you?” Skyler placed a hand on my arm, and I immediately shrugged it off and started to scramble to my feet.

“I gotta go, thank you for your help, I need to—” At which point I tripped over my own damn self, and Skyler had to catch me and hold me up.

“Hey, hey, slow down.” Skyler leaned me against the wall—so differently from the way Terri had shoved me up against it—and smiled at me. “It’s okay, take a minute.”

I could feel my face burning and his hands where he gently held my arms. “No, I need to go ...”

“The show was amazing.” Skyler’s voice was still soft, like I was a frightened animal. Which Iwas. Not a romantic hero, a Disney freakin’ sidekick who needed semi-comedic rescuing at every turn. Skyler was still talking. “You were fantastic, really.”

This wastorture. “Let me go,” I groaned.

Skyler immediately let go of my shoulders and took a step back, his smile transformed into a horrified frown. “Sorry, I didn’t mean—”

“You don’t meanany of it!” Oh shit, were we doing this? No, no, we were not. I buried my face in my hands. So I wouldn’t have to see the confusion on Skyler’s face. Thejustifiableconfusion.