Teach Me (Extracurricular Activities, #4)

by Neve Wilder

Silence stretched between us for a few beats. Downstairs, I heard the TV come on, the murmur of voices. All of it was comforting. Mark next to me, the din of the house, being surrounded by people who’d let me back in after I’d hurt them, gave me a chance to redeem myself. Graduation was weeks away, and in the midst of my heartache with Grady, nostalgia tinged with sadness filled me, knowing that they’d all be moving on soon, too. Even though we had the house until the end of August, it felt like the energy had already shifted, like a change of seasons. I could feel it all coming to a close. “I’m gonna miss this,” I whispered and swiped at the warmth trekking down my cheeks. “Me too.” Mark’s cool fingers found mine on the bed and threaded through them. “C’mere.” I scooted closer to him, and we shifted around until he was spooning me. “Since when did you become a cuddler?” “Dunno.” I felt Mark’s shoulder hitch against my back. “Somewhere between living with Sam and getting together with Chet. It’s nice, yeah?” “Yeah.” He smelled good, familiar, and a memory flashed behind my eyelids of the first time I’d met him, his welcoming grin, and then the frat house the day we’d moved in, how he’d flung himself on one of the tiny twin beds and told me to take whichever one I wanted, all the parties he’d invited me to freshman year, infinitely cooler than I was, all the times he’d picked me up when I needed him to, the bottles of water he’d leave beside my bed, the dim memory of waking...