Page 141 of The Breakup Artists

Her cheeks flush. “Yes. Past tense.L-I-K-E-D.”

I can’t help it; I smile. “Time is a construct—past and future are the same thing.”

“Which is why you’re dressed like you’re medieval?”

“Your favorite play isRomeo and Juliet—”

“I haven’t forgotten,” she says, once again not giving an inch.

“Here’s the thing: before I met you, I’d have argued that Romeo was a ridiculous sentimental idiot.”

She raises a questioning eyebrow. “And you’ve suddenly changed your mind?”

I hold her gaze. “He fights against all odds for the person he loves.”

For a second, she’s perfectly still. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that almost kissing you was hands down one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.”

She presses her lips together, like she’s unsure. “I’m going to school in London to study journalism,” she says, almost quietly. “I got in my acceptance before the deadline.”

I can’t help it; I beam. “That’s amazing.”

She gives me a questioning look, one she employs when she uses her journalism interview tactics on me. “How can you think that’s amazing if almost kissing me meant that much to you? Shouldn’t you be arguing for me to stay?”

“Never,” I say. “In fact, if I ever suggest you put my wants before your dreams, I give you full permission to throw me off this balcony.”

Ella stares at me like she’s arguing with herself over something. Then after a couple of long seconds, she nods like she’s made a decision. She holds up the pouch. “What is this anyway?”

“Open it.”

She pulls the strings and slides out a patch of fabric with an embroidered Leo lion head on it and a Scorpio symbol in the background. There are four safety pins at the edges and junk jewelry in the lion’s mane in honor of Des. She rubs her fingers over my mediocre embroidery work and looks up at me, her expression softer somehow.

“You made this?” she says, surprised.

I rub my neck, a little self-conscious, and repeat another line of Shakespeare, quietly this time. “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight. For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” Then in plain August speak, I add, “I’m falling for you, Scorpio.”

Her cheeks flush, and my eyes involuntarily flit to her lips.

“I see you,” she says, referring to my gaze, only she doesn’t make it sound like a bad thing. “And all I’m saying is... maybe.”

My heart immediately starts pounding, and I swallow. “Maybe?”

“It’s your favorite word,” she replies. “You figure it out.”

And now I’m grinning so hard that I worry for my cheeks. I lift my hand, lightly grazing the star constellation on her cheekbone and tipping her delicate chin upward. And when her lips turn up at the corners, I kiss them slowly, teasing them apart and drinking in the warmth of her breath. My hand trails a silky path from her neck to the small of her back, memorizing the taste of her peach lip gloss and the feeling of her mouth moving in rhythm with mine. She tangles her hands in my hair, standing on her tippy-toes, and where our stomachs touch, heat pulses. I can feel her smile, turning my gentle kisses into hungry ones. The feeling of her vibrates sensation to my very core, and I lift her up, her legs wrapping around my waist. And I wonder if there could ever be anything better than this.

Maybe Tiny was right all this time—maybe this whole love thing is pretty great after all.

68

valentine

I pack up a container with cream-cheese-stuffed French toast to share with August. Mom has been having all kinds of amazing cravings, and I’m shamelessly reaping the benefits.

For the past hour, I’ve been telling my parents how August made an epic play for Ella and how I had an equally epic sparring match with her parents, where they not only apologized for revealing our website to the press but agreed that maybe it was okay for August and Ella to see each other. I even tell them how her parents admitted it was wrong that they lorded money over us, and that I in turn said we didn’t want to be paid.

“I know August wouldn’t accept it,” I say. “And I totally get why. But theymayhave agreed to anonymously contribute to his college tuition after I laid out the fact that we got Ella back on track to follow her dreams while they not so nicely ruined our business, inhibiting our ability to pay for ours.”