Again, But Better(90)

“What’s this?” he asks, amused.

I hold our hands up for inspection, squinting dramatically. “I think this is a move.”

Pilot’s head shoots back with laughter.

“Is there some separation anxiety happening between your hand and the inside of your pocket?” I ask.

He narrows his eyes. We’re only ten feet from the Metro steps now. Babe and Chad are already descending. Pilot takes an unexpected left, crossing in front of me. He leads us away toward a brown business building. When we’re right up on it, he swings me around so my back is to the wall, and raises our held hands up above my head. They press against the wall as he brings his face close to mine. My pulse shoots up.

“What’s this?” I manage to breathe. He closes the gap, and we kiss for the first time as single humans, and it’s ridiculous and spontaneous and—all the swoon.

I feel like I just threw back a few espresso shots when he pulls back to meet my eyes.

“That was a move,” Pilot whispers smugly.

I push him away and step off the wall. “Show off.”

Over Pilot’s shoulder, I catch sight of Babe and Chad standing with their arms crossed, watching.

“Oh my god.” I choke. My cheeks flush. Pilot follows my gaze and laughs.

“We’ll be there in a minute!” I yell to Babe. They turn around and go back down the Metro steps.

“Give me your hand!” I demand. “Trying to out-move me with your movie-worthy, stupid, really great moves,” I mutter as I snatch at his palm and drag him toward the steps.

“I’m not the one who threw down the gauntlet with the super-intense hand-holding.”

I shake my head, giddy as we descend into the yellow-tinted tunnels of the Metro. We find Chad and Babe waiting for us by the turnstiles. When we get close enough, Chad looks at Pilot and nods his head approvingly before saying, “Duuude.”

I roll my eyes and turn to Babe. She widens her own like, Oh my god, so now are you guys a thing?





14. Don’t Stop Me Now



“You know what I just realized? We haven’t played Angry Birds.” Pilot’s grin kicks up his cheek. The countryside shoots by the window. We’ve settled in on the RER, a few rows back from Chad and Babe.

“Because I completely blanked and forgot to download the app on my iPod Touch before we left.”

“That was really fun, back in the day. You ever get past that level we were stuck on?”

“No, it got to the point where I was irrationally angry at the game, so I thought it best for my mental health to put it down.”

I study him again because I’m allowed. His smile doesn’t fade like it usually does. My eyes wander up to his hair. Can I touch it? I suck in a breath to speak.

“What?” he says with a laugh.

“I’m going to make another move.”

“Another move? Was it the eye contact we made before you started staring at my forehead?”

I purse my lips together. “No. And I’ll have you know, eye contact is a great move.”

I clear my throat and look away for a moment. “Okay. It’s coming. Brace yourself.”

He watches me carefully as I reach out my hand. Starting at the left corner of his forehead, I comb my hand back slowly, letting the hair slide through the Vs between my fingers. He closes his eyes for a second, leaning into my hand like a puppy. I bring my arm back, feeling triumphant.

He opens his eyes. They hold mine for a few charged moments before he smiles. “Is this a move-off now?” One of his eyebrows quirks up.

I shrug, shooting him a competitive look. “If we make this a real game, I think ground rules have to be established.”

He laughs, bringing his face close to mine. “Lay them down, Primaveri.”

I pull back to a safe distance, taking a moment to think this through. A move-off, a move-off … well, kissing shouldn’t really be a move in a move-off; it’s not creative enough. And we shouldn’t be making out when we’re with Babe and Chad anyway.

“Okay,” I reason, shifting my body to face Pilot, “so the rules of the move-off are: We’ll take turns making moves, but a kiss is no longer a move. It was taken and is no longer creative. First contestant to break and kiss the other before midnight loses the move-off. We both make it to midnight, it’s a tie.”

His lips fold back into a smirk. “You’re on.”

“It’s on like Donkey Kong. There’s more hair-brushing and hand-holding where that came from,” I say, pointing a finger at him.

He laughs again. I feel so warm and fuzzy. I let my smile pop on full-force because it’s too hard to keep it under wraps.

“Your hair felt really nice,” I add.

“Thanks. I grew it myself.”

“I grew mine too!”



* * *



Versailles still steals my breath away. I whip out the camera immediately. We make our way into the palace and up the stairs. When I’m satisfied we’ve taken enough pictures in the room before the Hall of Mirrors, we move on in. Pilot and I amble lazily, letting Chad and Babe take the lead again. This second time around, they’re really getting the double-date experience. I hope things are going well. Babe hasn’t left his side to come to mine, so it must be going at least okay.