Academically Yours (Best Friends Book Club, #1)

by Jennifer Chipman

We shared a lot of things, and books had always been at the top of that list. I thought it was why we had been such fast friends when we first met.

I hadn’t known what it meant to find your people until I met them. Despite how different we all were, we had chosen each other and never looked back.

I knew, that once I found the right person, I was going to be in it for the long haul. Once I met her, I was going to do whatever it took to keep her in my life, and make sure she knew that I was hers, forever. And she would be mine. Absolutely, unequivocally, mine. I was just waiting for her to walk into my life.

And for some reason, her small smile just did something to me. Because the pure and utter bliss on her face… It stuck with me.

She just seemed like… warmth. It felt like it oozed from her like she could be the light in any dark, bringing a place to life with just a smile.

And I couldn’t stop thinking that just as I had thought that maybe this life would be better with someone else in it, she appeared. With her red hair and the smile that lit up her face.

And I thought to myself, you know, despite everything, life had a way of surprising you sometimes.

And it was a reminder that even throughout everything—life could still be good.

Because at the other end of the room stood the most beautiful man I had ever seen. Not even exaggerating, he was gorgeous. I think my heart skipped a beat. Holy hell, he looked like he could have been a painting.

And for the first time in my life, I thought to myself, is this what it means for fate to exist?

And as soon as our eyes had met—as I caught her staring at me across the room—I knew that she was someone special.

She carried herself as if the very world depended on her light, the warmth of her smile. Maybe it did.

There’s gotta be something better than vicariously living through romance novels, I swear.”

Oh, God. I was totally obsessed with this girl, wasn’t I?

I wanted to find that person who made me feel like it was something I had to do because I couldn’t live without her.

I couldn’t explain what those things did to me because I didn’t understand it myself. All I knew is it made me want to know more, want to get to know the girl behind all of those things. I wanted to know her coffee order, her music tastes, and the trivial things I could never know just by observing her.

“I’ll always make time for you.” And damn if that statement didn’t make me feel all warm inside.

“Oh my god,” Noelle gasped. “Are you blushing?” “Shut up,”

And that was when I realized—this girl was the sun. And I wanted to bathe in her warmth.

How had he known my coffee order? “I pay attention,”

Waiting for this. Waiting for him. Because when he touched me… He set my soul on fire. He filled me with warmth, and happiness, and somehow… a belief that maybe, everything might be okay again.

she was all I could think about.

She was absolutely, breathtakingly, enchanting.

You’re like the sunshine, I wanted to tell her. And I can’t help but want to be around you and absorb every bit of it.

“There’s no one else for me either, sweetheart.”

Because I like you so much, I think I would die if I did something to scare you away.”

“What sort of romance novel are you living in, and why is this not my life?”

It’s just—God—you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.

I knew I could survive it—life. Because I was strong enough to live, and be happy, and achieve everything I had once dreamed of.

She had never been more beautiful to me, and I couldn’t wait to tell her how much I loved her.

“Loving you is as natural to me as breathing. I swear, Noelle, you came into my life and wormed your way into my heart. I knew the first time I saw you that there was no one like you on this planet. No one else for me.”

Because when someone who looks at you with that much devotion tells you how amazing you are, you realize that you have to believe it.

I know you love words, but there aren’t enough of them in the dictionary, or in all of the romance novels you read, for me to tell you how much I love you.