First-Time Caller (Heartstrings, #1)

by B.K. Borison

“That’s really sweet.” His smile tilts to the left, one side of his mouth hitching higher than the other. “You sound surprised.” “I’m not. You’re a sweet guy.” He immediately scowls. “Am not.”

Now I know what he was doing with his seven minutes. He was collecting every spare blanket and a beach towel—if the blue sea turtles are any indication—to create a makeshift tent. “Like a picnic,” I breathe. I look up at him and grin. “You remember what I said.” A dark room. Headphones over my ears. A mug of coffee in my hands. Aiden, right next to me, his knee pressed to mine. I like thinking that I’d be worth the trouble of something like that. “I remember all the things you’ve said,” he grumbles, voice low, and I’m not sure I was supposed to hear it because he rubs his free hand over his mouth and continues to stare at the fort.

I’m possessive of this woman that I don’t get to keep.

“When it comes to you, Lucie”—I suck at the dip between her collarbones—“there’s not much I don’t want.”

“I think you tell yourself you don’t deserve the things you want so it’s easier for you to manage your expectations. It won’t hurt if you don’t care, right? How many lies have you told, Aiden?”

I manage my expectations to keep myself from getting hurt. I keep a careful distance from anything that threatens my ambivalence. But Lucie snuck in through the cracks when I wasn’t looking and made herself at home in the corners of my heart. She ruined all the plans I made for myself with a smile on her face. And then I fucked it up. By saying nothing.

SHOULD I KILL MUZDLF

I buried my head in the sand and distanced myself from anything resembling emotional attachment. Like that, it was bearable. Like that, I could still breathe.

you love her when you’re scared?” My dad laughs, a gruff, thick sound. “It was never a choice, Aiden. I was always going to love your mom. And I would never have chosen different, even with everything we’ve endured together. It makes it better, doesn’t it?

I read it once and then again. It’s a list of—it’s a list of my favorite things. Things I’ve mentioned on the show and things I haven’t. Things he must have noticed.

SHOULD U KILL MSURKG

“Do you keep a list of her favorite things in your glove compartment?” He makes a short, amused sound. “Yeah. Yeah, I do. So I don’t forget.”

I’m thinking about the way her hand fits in mine, and the way my heart drums out a beat that matches her name. Lu-cie. Lu-cie. Lu-cie.