Page 33 of Come Back to Me

“For some reason, I thought you were my present.”

He clears his throat, telling me I caught him off guard. “Not this time, Angel.” He notices how quiet I am and speaks up. “Go on, open it.”

“Okay.” I tear open the paper to reveal a paperback copy ofIgnite Meby Tahareh Mafi.

He looks at me with his dark brown eyes. “Do you hate it?”

“No, I wasn’t expecting to get a present from you. I told you I didn’t need anything. And I already have a copy of this book. It’s one of my favorite dystopian romance books ever.”

“I know you did, but I didn’t listen. Yeah, a little birdy told me around a hundred times about how it’s one of your favorites.”

“And what birdy is that?”

“You.”

Opening the book, I see a note written on the cover page in what appears to be a pink Sharpie marker.

Happy sweet sixteen, Angel. I know this book is one of your favorite books of all time because you talk about it non-stop. I hope you love my version of this book more than the original. I love you so much.

Gray

I flip to the next page, containing the title, author name, and some information about the publisher. There’s a color coded system laid out with tabs and names. Everything is incredibly organized and aesthetically pleasing.

I cannot believe he annotated a book for me. I think I just fell in love with this boy even more.

I look deep into his eyes, my lips spreading into a huge smile. “You annotatedthe book for me?”

“Yeah, I did. I don’t know how you do it. It’s so hard matching the colors to the cover and figuring out what quotes to highlight. It took me several days to finish it, even with Lizzie Kaplan’s help. I would’ve been in deep shit without her.”

I can’t help but admire him and watch every part of his face move.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I love you.” Wrapping my arms around his torso, I pull him in for a hug. “Thank you for doing this for me. This is the best birthday present I’ve ever gotten. And it’s not just because it’s from you. It’s because you put so much thought into it and went out of your way to do something special for me.”

“I love you more, Violet. How could I not do something special for you? I will remind you how special you are every single day for the rest of our lives.”

He sits next to me again, putting his arm around me. He proceeds to kiss my forehead.

I glance up at him. “You know, it’s funny. My mother loves to throw me a birthday party every year because she loves being the center of attention. It’s not because she wants to celebrate me or anything like that. Ugh, I wish I didn’t have to go to my own party tonight. I just want to stay here with you.”

“As much as I’d love to stay here with you forever, I really want to see what you have up your sleeve for tonight.”

Shaking my head, I giggle. “What would I have up my sleeve?”

“I don’t know,” he says before he interlocks his fingers into mine. He proceeds to flip my arm to run the pad of his thumb up my arm and finds a home underneath the strap of my tank top.

I gulp, a faint moan escaping my mouth. “Gray.”

“Yeah?”

“When is it going to be the right time for me to unwrap you?”

He gives me the side-eye. “You’ll find out eventually.”

When I hear the sound of our front door opening and closing, panic sets in.

“Hey, dipshit! Are you up yet?” My brother shouts from a distance.