Page 67 of Rules for Rule Breaking

Bobby cleared his throat. “Are you sitting on an F5 key? Because that ass is refreshing,” he said, and she immediately ripped her hand away.

Bobby locked eyes with her, daring her to laugh. She was chewing on the insides of her cheeks. Her eyes were misting, and her jaw was quivering. She buried her face in her hands and laughed so hard she snorted.

“Ha!” Bobby shouted, and stuck out his open palm. “Pay up.”

“You’re such a computer nerd!” Winter yelled. “How was I not supposed to laugh?”

Bobby winked. “You liked it.”

“Oh God. Moratorium! You win.”

“Your turn.”

“Okay, fine.” Winter took Bobby’s hand and gave a dramatic pout. “If you were a space station, I’d call you Deep Space Fine.”

Bobby barely gave any effort. He choked on a laugh so hard it hurt his chest. “And you calledmea nerd?”

Winter walked her fingers up his arm. She hadn’t broken character yet. “Are you mass and space? Because, boy, you matter.” She kept going. Her fingertips were tickling his shoulder. “Are you a vacuum in space? Because you take my breath away.”

Bobby tried to lean as far away from her as he could, but she wasrelentless. She walked her fingers up his neck and stroked his cheek with the back of her hand.

“You’re so weird,” Bobby said, trying to stifle a laugh. “Are you done yet?”

Winter stuck out her bottom lip. “One more?”

“Fine.”

“Are you a supernova? Because you’re the hottest thing in the universe,” she said, and gave his cheek a little smack.

Bobby was speechless for a moment. His hand instinctively went to his cheek. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw that both of his cheeks were red, not just the one she’d slapped.

“That was weak,” he said.

She leaned back and folded her arms. “Then do better.”

“Fine.” Bobby sat up straighter and puffed out his chest. “Do you have any raisins?”

“Uh, no.”

“How about a date?”

Winter turned her head away, but Bobby could see her lips curling into a smile in the reflection of the window.

“Okay, that’s enough,” she muttered.

They settled back into their comfortable silence as they passed through Connecticut. Soon enough, Winter had fallen asleep, and Bobby was left listening to her snoring along to the whir of the passing cars. He shook his head and bit back a smile.

Winter Park

31. THE RULE BREAKING STOPS WHEN WE GET TO MIT AND HARVARD

Winter was sleeping soundly, her head resting against her seat belt. She was dreaming about walking around a stationery store with Bobby as he explained the difference between paper and parchment. He suddenly yelled her name, and the dream ended.

“Have you eaten yet?” Winter murmured as she reentered the waking world. She wiped her mouth and looked around. Bobby was dying laughing. “Where are we?” She rubbed her eyes.

“Cambridge. Harvard is only a few blocks away.”

“Great, let’s go,” she said, opening her door. Bobby reached over her and closed it again. “What gives?”