Page 38 of Forever is the Sweetest Con
I squirm. “Yeah. I just didn’t expect it.”
“I guess that’s why they call it a secret.” Rosy circles appear on his cheeks, which makes my stomach feel funny. Must be the hangover. “Why were you so surprised?”
Because the only times I’d ever spoken to you before I was either lying to you or pooping in my pants, not exactly the stuff of romance. “You hadn’t really shown much interest up until that point.”
He brushes a mosquito off my shoulder, the brief contact leaving a warm imprint on my skin. “I’m not as forward as some other guyshere. But I’ve been intrigued by you since the first moment I saw you, at the—” he catches himself, his eyes momentarily flashing wide “—in the first Bunk Shuffle.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. You remind me of my little sister.”
“Creepy,” I say, screwing up my face.
Kei laughs. “In the way that you’re scrappy, like you’ve been through some stuff, but you won’t go down without a fight.”
I swallow, vulnerable under his gaze. “I guess maybe I’m a bit like that.” Kei nods, his eyes gazing into mine like he’s trying to stare into my soul. The air between us feels heavy, and I shift. “So what’s this illustrious sister of yours doing now?” I say with an awkward laugh, trying to break the tension.
Kei picks at the hem of his jean shorts—oh god, he’s wearing jorts, which in the real world would be an unignorable Ick—and then he leans forward, resting his forearms on his thighs, his eyes dropping to the ground. He coughs but doesn’t say anything. I put my hand on his shoulder. “Kei?”
He turns his chin slightly toward me, but he keeps his gaze down. “She died when I was twelve. She was ten. Leukemia.”
My heart clangs in my chest, like it’s trying to escape. “I’m sorry,” I whisper.
Kei shakes his head. “It’s okay. I like talking about her. Her name was Kimiko. Kimi.”
“Kimi,” I repeat.
He leans back, our shoulders touching. “I used to call her Kimchi, which drove her crazy.”
“Obviously! No girl wants to be compared to fermented cabbage.”
“That’s exactly what she used to say,” he says, laughing. “You two would have gotten along.”
I don’t know what to say to this, so I just say, “Thanks.”
“Yeah,” he says. Our hands are side by side, so close that it would only take the slightest nudge for me to loop my fingers between hisand squeeze. The viewers would love it. But that feels too intimate, so I do nothing. Kei is the one who moves, tracing his finger between a constellation of freckles on my forearm. “Betcha no one has ever said they have a crush on you because you remind them of their dead sister.”
My laughter bursts out, like I’d been holding it in. “It’s a first.”
He smiles. “How are things with you and Isa?”
I shift, and my sweaty thigh sticking to the vinyl of the beanbag makes a burping noise, which we both pretend not to hear. “It’s early days, so we’re both still open to getting to know other people.”
“So, he wouldn’t mind if we’re spending some time together now?”
“I don’t think so. I’ll talk to him.”
He nods. “And we’ll be bunkmates tomorrow, so we’ll have some time to get to know one another before the Couple-Up Ceremony.”
“Great.”
We sit there, grinning at one another like a couple of fools. It takes me a moment to realize that I’m not even faking this smile. Is he?
“Should we go get ready for the party?” he says, hoisting himself up.
“I guess so,” I say, taking his hand and letting him pull me up. “But I’m going to take it easy after last night.”
“Right? What was in that punch?”
