Definitely, Maybe in Love

never lie.” It almost sounded like a promise.

This man sitting across from me, I had no idea who he really was. Was he the amoral hypocrite Alex made him out to be? Or was he the devoted brother who I’d heard Skyping with his younger sister for an hour on Thanksgiving, and two hours the next morning? Was he the forbearing comrade who allowed himself to be openly roasted by his best friend? Or was he the habitually arrogant pain in the ass who had nothing but condescending things to say?

Or…perhaps he was that magnetic, congenial guy who took time out of his demanding law school schedule to help me. The guy who could turn my logic to mush with just one kiss.

The truth was, I didn’t know. He’d made me smile once tonight—then kicked me in the teeth.

I was tired of the roller coaster, tired of the war.

“Why can’t you just apologize for making me look like an idiot?” I finally said. “And then we’ll be done with each other forever.”

“You weren’t the one who looked like an idiot. I was. And…” His voice dropped lower. “I don’t want to be done with you forever.” He placed a hand on my arm again. I didn’t mind this time. “I am sorry. Will you please forgive me?” He squeezed my arm, reminding me that he was near. But that was impossible to forget.

“I don’t want to fight anymore,” I whispered. It was the only thing I could think of to say. And it was the only thing I knew I really meant.

“Neither do I,” he replied with another squeeze.

“Then we won’t, okay?” I said. “Because I need you.”

Henry’s eyes went wide, and the pressure of his hand on my arm grew heavier. “Spring.”

“For research,” I quickly added. “I need your…help.”

“Oh,” he said. “Of course. Whatever you need, for as long as you need. I’m here for you.”

He stared down at his hand on my arm. When his thumb swept across the inside of my elbow, it felt like my skin lit up. His gaze moved back to my eyes, and on his face was an expression I’d seen a few other times. It wasn’t his charming smirk or his annoying lecturer’s leer. Henry was looking at me like a man looks at a woman.

For a change, I didn’t force myself to turn and retreat. In fact, I was caught in a gravitational pull, curious about what the next moment would bring…

“Heeeenryyyy?”

Unfortunately, the next moment brought Lilah, her abrasive voice calling from downstairs. “Are you awake?”

He withdrew his hand from my arm and pressed a finger to his lips. “Shhhh.”

I nodded slowly, in complete agreement.

But Lilah was unyielding. “I heard something. Is that you?”

Henry sighed and craned his neck to look toward the stairs. His thick voice answered her in the affirmative, but that he was on his way to bed. Even at two in the morning, I could smell his aftershave, his soap, his hair gel. His scents were like a cloud around my head, making me woozy. Being this close to him, in the dark, was like hearing Bruno Mars. I needed to get out of there.

My stirring caught his attention. “Are you leaving?”

“It’s really late,” I said, though I didn’t move away.

“I guess it is. Thank you for”—he ran a hand through his curly hair—“well, thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” I still didn’t move, not ready to leave. But I couldn’t just sit there, wondering if that moment we’d shared would ever return. So finally, I padded down the carpet around me, making sure I hadn’t dropped anything during our earlier tumble. I found my phone down by our feet.

“Any men in there?” Henry asked, eyeing the device in my hand. “Singers, I mean.”

“None.”

“Never?”

“Not currently,” I emphasized.

“Why is that?”

“Do you really want to get into it right now?”

He laughed quietly under his breath. “Probably not.” He eyed the phone again. “No Linkin Park?” I shook my head. “Tim McGraw?” I made a face. “Justin Bieber?” I dropped my chin, gazing at him through my lashes. “How about Long Kiss Goodnight?”

My heart gave one hard, painful thud then seemed to stop cold. “Now?” I gasped, choking on the single syllable. “We probably shouldn’t, I mean…we—”

“Oh, uh no,” he said. “That’s the name of a band. Long Kiss Goodnight.”

“Oh. Yeah. I know.” Good grief. Pull it together, woman.

Henry was quiet for a moment, then snagged my phone. “Give me this thing,” he said, standing up. “You’ll get it back in the morning with a new playlist. Allow me to educate you.”

Without another word, he walked to my bedroom, returned a few seconds later with my laptop under an arm, stepped over me, and disappeared into his room.

Chapter 14

“Ms. Honeycutt?”

The back of my head whacked against the wall when I jumped. I opened my eyes and blinked a few times, dragging my mind to the present, focusing on Masen’s face sticking out his office door.

“Come in,” he said.

I tore out my ear buds—the sweet sounds of a new-to-me Maroon 5 song still running through my head. Was it any wonder my mind had drifted?

After a deep inhale and swallow, I eased myself to my feet, prepared to focus on the most important meeting of my college career.

This was our first appointment since he’d rejected my outline rewrite back in October. Since then, I’d worked like crazy. After a while, I could see what he was getting at when he’d broached the subject of the new angle. Now, my theory had a depth and richness that had been missing before. Potential.

I hated to admit it, but Henry’s help and insight had kind of made all the difference. In fact, I wouldn’t be where I was without him. After Thanksgiving, it wasn’t as though we were miraculously eye-to-eye—we still didn’t agree on key issues—but it was like the distrust and tension were gone. Another kind of tension had taken its place, however. And I could never really look at him without tasting the tang of cran—

“Take a seat.”

I jumped again, then lowered myself into an old leather chair across from my professor’s messy desk. He had a hard copy of my new outline in one hand and was rubbing his chin with the other. We were apparently skipping conventional pleasantries, because Masen dropped my paper on his desk and jabbed a finger right in the middle.

I gripped the arms of the chair, bracing myself for bad news.

“Better,” he said.

I breathed and unclenched my balled-up toes. “Thanks.”

“I’m impressed that you took my advice. I wasn’t sure you would about something like this.”

“No,” I said, “you were right. I needed a new perspective.”

“It needs work but I definitely think you’re on the right track.” He passed my paper across the desk. “I made a few notes.”

A few? The thing looks like a rainbow threw up on it.

“But I really like this part.” He drew a circle around section three.

“You do?” I said with a smile, still feeling so relieved that I wanted to stretch across the desk and kiss him. Kiss anyone! Who can I kiss?

“Tell me.” He leaned back in his chair. “Who have you been working with on this?”