Page 78 of Sleeper: The Palisades Edition

“So, just over a month.”

“Feels longer.”

“Well. I’ve been thinking about you ever since I met you twelve years ago.”

God, it breaks my heart a little every time she brings that up.

She shivers and rubs her bare arms before picking up her fork.

“Are you cold?” I stand up to remove my blazer. I’m only wearing a T-shirt underneath, but I’m a thick-skinned stud. “Here.”

“Oh, I don’t need that.”

I stand behind her and help her put it on. She sniffs the collar and smiles up at me. “It smells like you. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

When I sit back down, she’s grinning mischievously. “This blazer reminds me of your Greyson outfits fromThat’s So Wizard. You were so cute.”

I roll my eyes. “Thanks. I didn’t wear blazers or high-tops for like five years after the show was cancelled.”

“Oh, but you were so cute! I loved your little ties and your button-down shirts. There was a guy at my schoolwho tried to dress like you, but he just couldn’t pull it off.” She purses her lips, and I can tell there’s something else she wants to tell me, but she doesn’t. She takes a bite of her pasta.

“What?”

She raises her eyebrows and shrugs. “Nothing.”

“What?”

“Okay, but it’s so dumb. But I never told anyone—oh my God, I can’t believe I’m telling you this, but here goes. Before I met you…” She smacks her lips together, places her fork on the side of the dish before continuing. “I did an online quiz.Which Disney Channel Character Should be Your Boyfriend?Guess who my boyfriend was?” She covers her face.

“Me?”

“Greyson Manning.”

“Fuckin’ A. That’s so wizard.”

“It was! I mean, I don’t even remember the questions.”

“Liar. You remember every word of the quiz.”

“Yeah. I do. One of them was ‘which song would you pick to dance to with your boyfriend at Homecoming?’ The choices were, ‘Bye Bye Bye’ by NSync, ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’ by Ricky Martin, ‘Get This Party Started’ by Pink, and ‘Just My Imagination’ by The Temptations.”

“What’d you pick?”

“‘Just My Imagination’ of course.”

“Because Greyson liked Motown.”

“So did I. Which was why we were so perfect for each other.” She giggles and wiggles around in her chair, and it’s so adorable I can’teven eat.

Shit.

I already know what I’m going to have to do before she’s even finished telling me all of the questions she answered. If Nico finds out, he’ll never speak to me again. Not because of what I’m going to do to her but because it’s so fucking cheesy. But I know I’m going to do it, just as surely as I know why.

I am hopelessly in love with this woman, and I don’t want her to go anywhere without me.

TWENTY-TWO