“Our field is covered in snow,” I told him. “Won’t be very comfortable.”
Seth scoffed as he leaned in, too, conspiring with me reluctantly. He fucking loved it. “I’d have to lie again.”
I raised my eyebrows. Was it that big of a deal?
“Shut up,” he whispered.
We shared a laugh.
“Nick’s gonna figure out that we’re both missing,” Seth said.
I shook my head. “My sister can lie and say I was home to someone Nick knows. Doesn’t matter. He can’t prove anything.”
“It’s risky. Where would we even go?” he asked.
“I’ll show you when we’re in my room,” I said. My laptop screen was flooded with options. I’d already planned it out.
I watched Seth’s expression shift, temptation flickering across his features before doubt smothered it again. His fingers traced the rim of his glass, around and around.
“You’ve already looked at places,” he said quietly. It wasn’t a question.
“Maybe.” I tried to keep my voice casual, but I could hear the hope bleeding through. “Just browsing.”
“Just browsing,” Seth repeated, and there was something in his tone, amusement mixed with something softer that made my chest tighten. “How many tabs do you have open?”
“Irrelevant.”
“Damon.”
“Seventeen,” I admitted. “But some of them are duplicates.”
Seth laughed, pressing his hand over his mouth like he was trying to contain it. The sound made me feel invincible and pathetic all at once. I wanted to give him everything, wanted to plan trips and steal time and build a world where we didn’t have to pretend we were just a passing fling.
“This is insane,” he said, but he was still smiling.
“It’s a few days,” I said, leaning forward until our faces were close enough that I could count his eyelashes. “A few days where we don’t have to worry about who sees us or what they think. Where we can just…” I stopped myself before I said something that would earn me a pinch.
“Just what?” His lips stretched into a naughty smile.
“Sleep past noon,” I said. “Watch terrible movies. Make breakfast at three in the afternoon.”
Seth’s smile faded into something more contemplative. “My parents are expecting me.”
“Tell them you got a research project. Something academic and impressive that they can brag about to their friends.”
“You’ve thought about this.”
“I think about a lot of things.”I think about you constantly. I think about what it would mean if you said yes. I think about what it means that I want you to say yes so badly.
Seth was quiet for a long moment, his gaze dropping to where our knees were almost touching under the small table. “What if this is a mistake?”
The question hung between us, sharp and dangerous. I knew what he meant; not the trip itself, but what it represented. The line we’d been toeing for months, pretending we could keep this casual and undefined.
“Then it’s a mistake we make together,” I said. My voice came out rougher than I intended. “But I don’t think it is.”
“You don’t think a lot of things are mistakes,” Seth said, but there was no bite to it.
I reached under the table and found his hand, lacing our fingers together where no one could see.