Page 105 of The Surprise Play

I nod, my chest near bursting as I text Satch without thinking.

She gets back to me before I’ve finished packing up my stuff.

Satch: That’s amazing! I’m so proud of you! Do you want to come over and we can look through his comments? The paper should be up on the student portal.

I stare at her words, my doubts from the shower niggling at me, but like hell I’m not going over there.

It’s for tutoring, right?

It’s all good.

I bolt out of the locker room, not even saying goodbyeto my buddies. It’s unlike me, but I’m on a mission. I have to see Pilscher’s comments, and I have to thank Satch in person.

She made this happen for me.

Her.

The girl with the beautiful eyes and the gorgeous face.

The girl who danced with me in the snow and?—

Fuck. I’m getting all mushy again.

Shit. I don’t know how I’m supposed to navigate this, but as I punch out of the parking lot, I’m driving faster than I normally would, and it’s all because of her.

CHAPTER 32

ELIZABETH

I’ve already got my computer set up with the student portal page by the time Wily gets to me. I am so excited, my insides are buzzing. And it’s not just because I get to see him again. It’s because he got an A-, and I am so proud of him.

A grade like that for Wily is huge, and I want him to know that we need to celebrate the shit out it.

I giggle at myself, giddy and bubbling as I wait for him.

The second he knocks on my door, I swing it open and jump up to my tiptoes, wrapping my arms around his neck.

“I’m so proud of you!” I squeal, hoping I’m not deafening him, but come on! He got an A-!

Wrapping his arms around me, he plucks me off my feet and carries me into the room, closing the door behind us.

I giggle, leaning back when my toes touch the ground again and reaching up to hold his face. Gazing up atthose beautiful blue eyes, I say it one more time because I am bursting. “I am seriously soooo proud of you. You did it, Coyote.”

My grin must be beaming. I feel like I’m sparkling right now, and it’s all because of him.

He smiles back at me, and for a second, I wonder if he’s gonna kiss me, but then he swallows and lets me go, taking a step back.

“Should we look at the essay?” His voice is deep and lacking the gentle warmth I basked in last night.

He’s still happy to see me… to be here.

But something’s off.

I worry my lip and nod, those giddy bubbles popping in record time. Shuffling to my laptop, I wake up the screen again and nudge it toward him.

“You’ll need to enter your username and password.”

He leans past me, his bulky body so big… so touchable.