If We Ever Meet Again - Ana Huang Page 0,40

feeling, every thought, every memory, both good and bad. They left themselves open so the other could rush in and fill the space that had been empty for too long.

Time fell away, taking with it everything that happened before or would happen and leaving them with only this moment. The surrounding buildings crumbled. The wall collapsed, the trees disappeared, and the hills flattened out, retreating into nonexistence while they waited for the world to be born. Then, just like that, the world was there, bursting forth with such excitement it sped past everything. Past civilization, past nature, past the sun and moon and stars until it all fell quiet again.

Through it all, Blake and Farrah stood, unmoved by the creation and destruction around them. Here, at last, they found a place time couldn’t touch.

But in the end, the universe gets its way, and though they fought it until their lungs ran out of breath, they eventually had to ease apart.

They stared at each other.

Elation coursed through Farrah’s veins. It filled her up until she thought she might burst, so she did the only thing she could do: she laughed. The sound danced in the air and echoed back at her, causing her to laugh harder. Blake’s face broke into a grin. His laughter joined hers, their harmony saying everything they couldn’t say in words.

“Let’s not go back,” Blake said. “Let’s stay a while longer.”

“Yes.” Farrah sank into his arms. “Let’s.”

They stared up at the sky. The stars beamed back, twinkling with joy.

Farrah had always equated the stars with love, which seemed as nebulous and out of reach as the diamonds in the sky. But as she stood there next to Blake, beneath the infinite skies of a foreign land, the stars felt a little closer.

Chapter Sixteen

One moment can change your life.

It can happen anywhere, anytime, and it usually happens when you least expect it.

For Blake, it happened on a little bridge in a little town halfway across the world from home.

The moment his lips touched Farrah’s, he was a goner. His excuses for why he shouldn’t get involved with anyone from FEA crumbled into dust, as did his aversion to virgins. In fact, jealousy streaked through him at the thought of Farrah sleeping with anyone else.

Farrah wasn’t like Lorna. She wasn’t like anyone he’d ever met before.

For the first time in his life Blake believed in the Hollywood romance and the butterflies and the fireworks, because he saw them. They were as bright and unexpected as the girl who entered his life like a meteor streaking through the night, illuminating the darkness and showing him what was possible if only he would believe in the stars.

“I’m going to tell you a secret, but you can’t tell anyone.” Blake held Farrah’s hand as they walked along the Bund. The lights from the buildings shimmered on the Huangpu River, turning its waters into a rainbow of hues.

The past few weeks had passed by in a blur of nights on the town, stolen kisses between classes, and heated makeout sessions in Blake’s room. He found himself doing things that used to make him cringe, like leaving Farrah cheesy Post-It notes in random places and buying her flowers for no reason. What’s worse, he enjoyed doing those things.

Yep, he was a goner, and he didn’t care.

“Color me intrigued.” Farrah tapped a finger to her chin. “Let me guess. You’re a spy, sent on a mission to infiltrate a group of hapless American study abroad students who may or may not be harboring state secrets.”

“Right on the first try. Mission: get close to the target.” Blake stopped and faced Farrah, closing the gap between them until their mouths were inches apart. “How am I doing?”

“You’re doing a bang-up job, Agent Ryan.” Farrah’s breath whispered across his lips. “Keep this up and you might get a promotion.”

“Might? Guess I have to work harder.” Blake traced her lips with his tongue, teasing her until she caught his head in her hands and brought their mouths together in a searing kiss. She tasted like sunshine and honey and warmth, and he wanted to drown in her. To get so swept up in her depths, no one could find him. It’d be just the two of them, lost in infinity.

“Mom, look!” The high-pitched voice sliced through his bliss.

Blake cracked one eye open to see a little boy staring at them with curiosity and disgust.

“What are they doing?”

The boy’s mother frowned. “Nothing. They’re…doing adult things. You’re too young to know.”

“But—”

“Let’s