XOXO (Roosevelt College, #1)

by Christina Lee

Just as he passed it to me, I felt his warm lips against my cheek, and my whole body buzzed to life. I gasped as if I had been shocked—and maybe I had. He stepped back warily and glanced out the window. Not wanting him to think he’d done something wrong, I leaned forward to swipe my mouth against his cheek too. Except he turned his head right then and I kissed the corner of his lips instead. “Sor…sorry about that.” His face flushed. “I didn’t mind it.”

Henners, You mean a lot to me. I’ll never forget you. It’s been really hard, but you made everything better. I’ll be rooting for you. Good luck. XOXO, Lark

But now he was all grown up—taller, though still small-boned, with angular cheekbones and thick eyelashes.

I guess Henry Albrecht was in my life again. Sort of. At least from a distance. But now everything was different. We weren’t kids with cancer anymore.

XOXO. Four little letters that likely meant nothing, but ones I’d clung on to for years for no good reason. Or maybe reasons I didn’t want to admit.

“What?” “Nothing, I just…forgot about your laugh…and how much I enjoyed it back

As soon as our mouths met in a gentle brush of lips, it was as if the universe had stopped spinning and everything that normally felt wrong inside me clicked into place. This, right here, was everything I’d been missing.

“Wanna make you feel good,” I murmured against his mouth. He tightened his hold. “You already do. Just by being here.”

“What do you dream about?” Lark asked. You, I wanted to say but held back because that thought was way too intense.

You’re beautiful. And I wish somehow, some way, that you could be mine. XOXO

a wobbly voice, Lark asked, “Did you mean what you wrote on the card?” “With all my heart,” I replied without hesitation. Lark sighed dreamily. “I want that too.”