I trail my fingers across his cheek. He stays perfectly stil for me. “Please stop apologizing, Étienne.”
“Say my name again,” he whispers.
I close my eyes and lean forward. “Étienne.”
He takes my hands into his.Those perfect hands, that fit mine just so. “Anna?”
Our foreheads touch. “Yes?”
“Wil you please tell me you love me? I’m dying here.”
And then we’re laughing. And then I’m in his arms, and we’re kissing, at first quickly—to make up for lost time—and then slowly, because we have al
the time in the world. And his lips are soft and honey sweet, and the careful, passionate way he moves them against my own says that he savors the way I
taste, too.
And in between kisses, I tell him I love him.
Again and again and again.
Chapter forty-seven
Rashmi clears her throat and glares at us.
“Seriously,” Josh says. “We were never like that, were we?”
Mer groans and chucks her pen at him. Josh and Rashmi have broken up. In a way, it’s strange they waited this long. It seemed inevitable, but then
again, so did other things. And those things took a while, too.
They’ve split as amicably as possible. It didn’t make sense for them to keep this up long distance.They both seem relieved. Rashmi’s excited about
Brown, and Josh . . . well , he stil has to come to terms with the fact that we’re leaving and he’s staying. And he is staying. He squeaked by again, barely.
He’s losing himself in his drawings, and his hands are in a constant state of cramps.Truthful y, I’m worried. I know how it feels to be alone. But Josh is an attractive, funny guy. He’l make new friends.
We’re studying for exams in my room. It’s dusk, and a warm breeze blows my curtains. Summer is almost here. I’l see Bridge again soon. I received a
new email from her. Things are shaky, but we’re trying. I’l take that.
Étienne and I are sitting side by side, feet intertwined. His fingers trace swirly patterns on my arm. I burrow into him, inhaling that scent of shampoo and shaving cream and that something else that’s just him that I can never get enough of. He kisses my stripe. I tilt my head, and his mouth moves onto mine. I run a hand through his perfect, messy hair.
I LOVE his hair, and now I get to touch it whenever I want.
And he doesn’t even get irritated. Most of the time.
Meredith has been very accepting of our relationship. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that she’s attending col ege in Rome. “Imagine,” she said, after
registering, “a whole city of gorgeous Italian guys. They can say anything to me, and it’l be sexy.”
“You’l be so easy,” Rashmi said. “Would you like-ah to order-ah the spa-ghe-tti? ‘Oh, do me, Marco!’”
“I wonder if Marco will like footbal ?” Mer asked dreamily.
As for us, Étienne was right. Our schools are only a twenty-minute transit ride away. He’l stay with me on the weekends, and we’l visit each other as
often as possible during the week. We’l be together. We both got our Point Zéro wishes—each other. He said he wished for me every time. He was