Bookishly Ever After (34 page)

“I’m supposed to push a loose strand of hair out of your face, then let my hand linger on your cheek, or isn’t that how, like, every other kissing scene in those books you read goes?” He gently tucked that piece of hair behind my ear and let his fingers slide down to tilt my chin up until my eyes met his. “Well?”

I blinked, my skin hyperaware of his touch and probably short-circuiting my brain a bit. Even while being completely and totally swoon-inducing, he still managed to make me want to laugh.

“Sounds like you’ve been…” His thumb traced my chin and just barely glanced over my bottom lip. I sucked in a breath and almost forgot what I was going to say, “…taking notes, yourself.” I gently lay my book down on the dock,
far from any risk of falling in the water. I might have been captivated by Dev’s eyes on mine, but this
was
a collector’s edition.

That dimple showed up again in his cheek. “I actually rate higher than your book?” His thumb paused again over the corner of my lips.

I reached up around his neck, letting my fingers dig into his hair. “For now. But when the last
Hidden House
book comes out, you’re gonna have some serious competition.”

“We’ll see about that.” He was close enough that everything was out of focus but his eyes, which took on a little bit of a gold-green glint in the soft morning light. My focus dropped to his lips, which quirked up—he noticed. He moved and his mouth was millimeters from mine. “I plan on making you forget all those book boyfriends of yours.”

His breath tickled my lips and, heart pounding, I inched a tiny bit closer so mine just brushed his as I spoke.

“Good luck trying.” And then gravity took over and there was no space between us.

Dev pulled back, dropping a quick peck on the corner of my mouth. “I think I love the woods. It took getting you covered in mud and hay to admit you liked me.”

I put my hand on his chest before he could come in for another kiss. “What about later today?” I tried not to let that oh-so-real fear creep into my words, and just aimed for a very light Marissa-like tone. I let my other hand trail along the neckline of his sweatshirt and I marveled at how he froze and his eyes grew brighter at my touch.

“Huh?”

“Well, we’re not going to be co-counselors anymore. You don’t have to bring excitement into my life, or whatever the job description said, after we step off that bus.” Being this flirty with him felt funny and yet right.

Amusement flickered across his face. “I’m sure I read about this being a long-term position.” He played with that loose strand of hair again, tugging the curl straight and watching it bounce back into a limp spiral. “Besides, maybe I’ll start getting As in English. The perks of dating you definitely outweigh all of your book nerdiness.”

He didn’t say the right thing, the perfect, bookish loveinterest answer, but it was still wonderful and real. Relief flowed through me and my smile grew into a cheek-achingly wide grin.

“Look who’s talking, theatre geek.”

“So, how does that story of the shy knitter and the mini sock boy end?” His fingers trailed down my cheek before slipping away and wrapping around the edge of the dock.

Turning my head to look across the lake, I shrugged. “Would it be too predictable to say I hope they’re going to live happily ever after?” I held my breath, waiting for his answer. I didn’t want to scare him away.

Dev began swinging his legs and every tiny contact of his leg against mine sent tingles across my skin. “Well, I’m still aiming for a sequel, maybe a trilogy. Definitely something truly epic.” He grinned when I looked skeptically back at him. “What?”

“Sequels have too much drama. And usually have cliffhangers.” I started swinging my legs in time with his, like a metronome for our matching heartbeats. “I have a love-hate relationship with cliffhangers.”

“How about a trilogy with our own weird drama-free kind of epic?” He leaned forward until his nose bumped mine and added, “I’m aiming for bestseller status with this one.” He kissed me softly, so lightly, before sitting back and waiting for my response.

I reached for his hand and squeezed, leaning against him and letting him wrap his free arm around me. “‘Oh, keep the world forever at the dawn,’” I said again, and his arm pulled me a little bit closer.

Pine Central’s cafeteria was louder than usual, but I barely noticed. I absently dipped my grilled cheese stick into my tomato soup and flipped the page, careful not to get grease on
Northern Light
’s crisp, new pages. Aurora had just entered the home of the leader of the
Huldufólk
and was about to see Gideon again. A whoop a few tables away as the hockey guys did…something…just became background noise.

“I don’t know why she even bothers to sit with us.” Em’s hand waved in front of my face and broke my concentration. “Seriously, Feebs?”

I swatted at her hand and turned a little so my book was propped on the corner of the table. “Shh. it’s getting really good,” I said, wishing I could stick a “do not disturb” sign on the back of my shirt.

A hand clamped on her shoulder and the light in her rose up to twine with the darkness seeping off of his hand. It was funny how the darkness used to feel ominous and now felt wonderful, like a caress.

“Weirdo.”

“Shh.” Any scene with Gideon in it was worth missing out on the latest lunch gossip.

His other hand brushed gently against her back to turn her so she was partly facing him. “Yes, she may be new, but Aurora has been a fast study.” Those almost unnaturally blue eyes met hers.

A hand softly brushed my arm and I looked up into naturally hazel eyes that were a brownish-green at the moment. Dev slipped onto the bench between me and Em, managing to squeeze two trays of food onto the already crowded table. Between his massive lunch and Alec’s, it was amazing the cafeteria didn’t run out of food. “Sorry I’m late, MacKenzie wanted tips for a teacher flash mob at graduation this year.”

I smiled up at him, pointed at the page, and gave him the one-second gesture before turning back to the book.

“Let’s go talk,” Gideon whispered and gave my arm a tug.

I resisted his pull for a second, two seconds, but his shadows twined with my light and by second three, I was following him. He had less to lose if I became trapped—in fact, life would be better for him, but, still, he’d worked so hard to teach me how to talk to these leaders. He wouldn’t trip me up in the last minute.

We stepped through the doorway into a short, narrow hallway leading to a staircase. “Aurora, what I said earlier, about how I feel—“ he said softly making me freeze midstep. I turned to look at him, but he was staring straight ahead. “—it was only because I didn’t want Hallur to use me and my feelings against you—”

My heartbeat sped up in time with Aurora’s. This was it—Gideon’s confession. Tingles flowed over my skin.

“Just a tip, Phoebe,” Em said, reaching over and closing
the book on my fingers, “Normal people don’t ignore their boyfriends for books.”

I leaned against Dev and book tingles were replaced with real-life warmth. “He’s okay with it.”

Dev’s chest shook with laughter. “I know there’s no point in getting between you and,” he craned his neck to see my book’s cover, “what’s the paranormal creature of the week?”

“Besides,” I said, ignoring his comment and swatting at his hand with my book when he tried to swipe a bite of my grilled cheese, “Normalcy is overrated.”

He avoided the book and grabbed a grilled cheese, anyway, scrunching his nose in a “so there” look before taking a bite. “Definitely overrated.”

Alec finished his cheesesteak, balled up the wrapper, and tossed it so it hit Dev’s shoulder. “Can you two please stop being so…couple-ish? Em’s been gloating since you came back from camp last week and it’s starting to get old.”

Grace looked up from her chemistry notebook, eyebrows arched and lips pressed together with the corners just barely turned up.

“Only starting?” She met my eyes, letting a little amusement slip through.

“I have a high tolerance for Em hyperbole,” Alec said, ducking the wrapper that Dev threw back at him.

“Mmmhmm,” Em said, studying him with a mock thoughtful look. “Watch out, Alec . I’m on a roll. Maybe I’ll find someone for you, next.”

“If you do, I’ll tell your dad about Wilhelm.”

“Really? Wait until your parents hear about the microwave experiment that destroyed their season 4
Enterprise
DVDs,” Em said pointedly.

While they argued, Dev put an arm around me and I snuggled against him as I opened my book again. “So, Feebs,” he started, and I reached up to put a finger against his lips.

“Just one more page.”

Even though I’ve dreamed of writing the acknowledgements for my first book since I was old enough to hold a pen, I never thought it would be this hard to write. Maybe because I’m afraid of missing someone (like Maria in
The Sound of Music,
I’m convinced I’m going to write “Well, God bless what’s-his-name” and post-printing, I’ll be the one yelling, “Kurt! That’s the one I left out. God bless Kurt!” in a bookstore…) So, first, to the person I’ll inevitably forget: God bless what’s-your-name.

Carrie Howland, you are a super-agent. I couldn’t have made it through these past two years without your support and guidance. Thanks for loving
Bookishly,
putting up with my non-stop texts and loooong emails, and for always making me smile. The next time I’m in NYC, I totally owe you an ice cream!

To my amazing editors Patricia Riley and Asja Parrish: your book-making magic is beyond compare. Thank you so, so much for championing and believing in this book. From our first chat, I knew I’d love working—and being friends— with both of you. I fangirled you on our first call and I’m still
fangirling you today. I owe you both a massive hug.

Thank you to Karen Hughes, Michael Short, Mark Karis, and everyone at Spencer Hill and Midpoint who gave me such a beautiful book. (BOOKS! BOOKS EVERYWHERE!!!!) And Meredith Maresco—I’m so glad that you’re not only
Bookishly’s
publicist, but also, from my first photobomb in your Meg Cabot picture at BEA to all the book squeeeeing we’ve done together, my friend.

To my CPs, friends, and book angels: Veronica Bartles, Stephanie Pajonas, and Deena Graves.
Bookishly
was a wee baby mess of a manuscript when you first saw it and you helped make it into what it is today. I can’t put into words how lucky I am to have you, but to borrow a phrase from Veronica: “I’m so thankful”—I couldn’t have done this without you. Thanks to Marnee, Kim, Travis, Megan, Nori, and Jodi for beta reading this book. Sending tons of happy book karma your way!

Kissy scenes are my Kryptonite, and without Madeline Martin, they would have all looked like: “and they kissed. And then they stopped kissing.” I’m sure everyone reading this is thankful you made sure that didn’t happen. Thank you so much for that and for your support and advice, Twitter Twin!!!! To Erica Cameron and Liza Wiemer for calming me down when the whirlwind of publishing had me feeling like Dorothy on the way to Oz. And to all of my author and blogger friends on Twitter, thank you for always knowing exactly what to say when I needed it the most.

While researching archery for this book, I fell down the archery rabbit hole and fell head over heels in love with the
sport. Coach Cindy Gilbert-Bevilacqua and Coach Dawn Altomonte, thank you not only for looking over the archery scenes to make sure I didn’t have Phoebe “notching” her hand at her forehead to start “shooting arrows into things,” but for also for being the amazing coaches you are and for feeding my love of archery. And to everyone at Middletown Archery, you blow me away with your skill and talent—thank you for welcoming me into your world.

A long time ago, I had received bad advice that made me give up on writing. It took a lot of people—whether they knew it or not—to inspire me to try again. This book exists because of you. Thank you to the ‘Celsies—especially James Heaney and Emily Potter, for reminding me of how much I loved writing and for teaching me so much about building engaging narratives. I look up to all of you as the incredibly talented writers you are. To Amy Plum, your book
DIE FOR ME
and meeting you at your signing in Tuxedo Park is what really inspired me to actually try to write my own book (and thank you for sharing your incredibly swoonworthy fictional dead boys with the world). And to Meg Cabot, whose blog-y advice helped me jump from fanfiction to my own fiction— meeting you not long after meeting Amy inspired me to keep going and push past the dreaded “elephant butt” middle section of my first real manuscript. Both of you might not read this, but I have to thank you, anyway.

To all the R&Divas, especially Lori Dombrowski, Erika Corbin, Yolanda Shepard, and Chris Herrmann—the four of you were my go-tos for every drama and doubt as I tried to
make it through writing and queries and publishing. Thanks for all the after-work and lunch cubicle chats, advice, and endless reads and re-reads of my awful queries, drafts, and bios.

I’m so lucky to be a part of the kidlit writing community, where many people give so much of their time to help support others. Thank you, Brenda Drake, for Pitch Madness and to Summer Heacock and Dee Romito for picking
Bookishly
for Team Fizzee. To the Eastern PA SCBWI region, especially the advisors, organizers, faculty, and fellow writers at the annual Poconos retreat at the Highlights Foundation. Those cabins contain a lot of book-making magic.