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Eight

"Zero?"

"Yes."

"Zero," I repeat, incredulous. "Not even your prom date?"

"Yes, Audi. Especially not my prom date. She was wasted within the hour. I'm not making it up."

The topic at hand is how many people we hooked up with during high school. I don't know how it came up after we finished eating breakfast today, but we're both very interested in it. Either that or we've finally run out of things to talk about.

"But how?" I ask.

Lucas shrugs. "I had a hard time trusting people in high school. I tried to avoid gossip at all costs, and those things just got around quickly. I waited until college."

He turns his attention back to the puzzle we've been working on and fits another piece. It seems to be going a lot quicker now that the edges are all complete.

"Your turn," he says.

"One," I reply. "Although it doesn't really qualify as a high school hookup."

"Why not?"

"It was more of a college thing."

"Explain," Lucas says.

I raise my brow. "Are you sure you want to know this?"

"Definitely," he answers without hesitation.

"Okay—so during the senior year of high school, I went to New York to do the whole campus visit thing. I ended up hanging out with Karen's brother a lot since he was the only person I knew there."

"You hooked up with him?" he asks in shock.

I wave my hand. "Calm down. We only kissed that time, and I was already eighteen—but we did end up dating when I was a freshman in college."

"Did you move to New York because of him?"

I shake my head. "I moved there because I liked the city and the university."

"Hmm," Lucas huffs. "I never liked that guy."

"Why? Because he's older?"

"He shouldn't have been preying on high school girls when he was in college."

"It wasn't like that," I say, throwing a grape at him.

As usual, he catches it and pops it in his mouth.

"Just don't tell Karen because I never told her," I say. "I think she would freak out. Plus—he's engaged now. It would be weird."

"Okay, no more hookup stories. I think I can only handle one."

"Well, you're in luck. It's the only one."

Lucas nods, working on the puzzle with an expression I can't place. It's relief mixed with anger and sadness. Jealousy even. I'm not sure.

I'm surprised we haven't kissed yet. It's been a week now since we've been here. We've been sleeping in the same bed, and it's clear we're attracted to each other, but it hasn't happened. Maybe he's waiting for me to make a move. Maybe he's respecting the doctor's orders of no strenuous activity. Or maybe he's changed his mind about me.

"When are you going back to California?" I ask.

"My flight is booked for Saturday."

Saturday. Today is Wednesday. That only gives us three more days. I can't believe our time together has gone by so quickly.

"When are you going back to New York?" he asks.

"I guess I'll go back the same day. My parents think I'm already there. I'll just go straight from here."