"Jameson? Are you up here?"
As Avery's voice echoed from below the trapdoor, a slow smile slid across my lips. I was sitting on Hawthorne House's roof, shooting arrows at targets hundreds of feet away. I'd purposefully arranged them to be difficult, and yet I was still struggling. So far, I'd only hit the closest one, which was nestled in a tree in front of the greenhouse.
"Sure am, Heiress," I murmured, setting aside my bow.
A moment later, the door swung open with a surprising amount of strength. Avery's head peeked up. Smirking, I reached over and helped her up. It only took a millisecond to realize that she was holding a letter — one incrusted with the UConn logo.
It was already torn open. And although Avery was hiding a smile, her eyes were transparent.
When Avery had settled beside me, our legs swinging over the edge of the roof, I murmured, "You got in."
"How did you know?"
"Because I'm a psychic, Heiress." Smirking, I added, "And they would've been foolish not to accept you."
She started to smile. But before it could fully form, Avery opened her mouth. Surely she was about to bring up the fact that I was going to Yale. And she wasn't.
Not about to let her ruin the moment, I kissed Avery. Eventually, she gave in and kissed me back. As the pleasant morning sun doused us, she twined her hands in my hair. Mine were on her waist, unwilling to let her loose.
"Congratulations," I murmured when we'd both caught our breath.
Avery kissed me again, this time with her arms around my shoulders. Smirking, I moved us both until we were lying parallel on the sun-bathed cement patio.
For a few minutes, that was all we did.
Eventually, though, I had to force myself to stop kissing her. Because deep down, I knew this was less because I wanted to and more because I didn't want to discuss our college arrangements.
Thankfully, Avery didn't bring it up immediately. We exchanged conversation between soft kisses, our discussion playful rather than serious.
But neither of us were really interested in it.
Eventually I sighed, pressing my forehead to hers. "Nothing is going to separate us, Heiress."
"Not even sixty-two miles?"
My lips twitched. "You looked it up."
"You did too," she retorted.
Smirking, I pulled her closer. "Listen up," I murmured. "The only thing I'm letting come between us is school rivalry."
Avery's lips twitched. "Is that going to be a problem, bulldog?"
"Only if it's a problem for you, husky."
She grinned, kissing me once more.
And if school mascots were the only thing keeping us apart, then I was sure we had a million more kisses ahead of us.
