Page 28

The line for the hayride was long. A chill began to settle in the air, and I shrugged into my coat as Tyler and I boarded the trailer and sat on the hay bales.

Tyler spread a blanket over our laps and draped an arm over my shoulder, pulling me closer to him. He kissed me on the forehead when I looked up at him, and I settled into him as we waited for the hayride to start.

The guide gave us a brief summary of the history of the university and fall traditions. We went past the locations of the scavenger hunt that Everly and I had done.

“Everly and I did the scavenger hunt to find most of these things. Did you do it, too?”

He shook his head.

“You should. It’s a lot of fun.”

In response, Tyler pulled me closer to him, and we sat in a content silence for the rest of the hayride.

***

We walked back to the dorm hand-in-hand after the hayride was over.

“Watch Forensic Files with me?” I asked as we walked into the building.

He playfully rolled his eyes, but squeezed my hand and we started walking toward my floor.

He sat on the futon, inviting me to join him. I turned the TV on and let the Forensic Files reruns start playing. I leaned against him, and he wrapped his arm around my waist.

Tyler: You really do like your true crime shows

Tyler: I thought you were kidding

I started to sit up to say something to him, but he tightened his arm around me, holding me close to him. There was no denying it. I was starting to catch feelings for him.

No, that wasn’t quite true. Even if he didn’t know – which I was pretty sure he didn’t – I’d had feelings for him for a while. I was crazy about him.