Chapter Nine

CHAPTER NINE

LATER THAT DAY, we sat in the library again.

She read. I watched her read. Which is a stupid thing to admit, but I’ve never claimed to be cool in love. There’s something about watching someone read—a kind of peace that doesn’t have to explain itself.

Eventually, she closed her book and looked at me.

“I feel like we’re stealing time,” she said.

I didn’t answer.

Because she wasn’t wrong.

“But it’s nice,” she added. “Isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” I said. “It is.”

Then she surprised me.

She stood, walked over, and sat on the armrest of my chair. Leaned down close. Whispered—

“I want to show you something.”

She led me through a hallway I hadn’t seen yet. Past portraits and stairwells and a storage corridor with a door slightly ajar.

Inside: a small observation room. Empty. Windows curving out toward the sea like eyes wide open.

She walked in first.

“I come here when I want to hear the ocean talk,” she said.

I stood beside her. Watched the waves.

“You really think it talks?”

“I think it remembers,” she said. “More than we do.”

Then she turned and looked at me—really looked.

And just like that—

She kissed me.

No hesitation. No lead-up.
Just silence, and sea, and her lips meeting mine like something overdue.

When she pulled back, her voice was softer.

“You don’t feel like the others.”

I swallowed. “Is that a good thing?”

“I’m not sure yet,” she said. “But I think I like it.”

We stayed there until the sun dropped.

And for the first time since the deal was made…
I started to think I might actually win.