He holds up a plastic bag from the school bookshop, and my heart drops because he’s clearly expecting sex—what else could be in the bag except for condoms?

“You’re a deviant.”

“I wish,” he says.

He waits until we’re inside his cramped dorm room before leaning in for a kiss. He smells like sweat and cologne and laundry detergent.

“Were you waiting long?”

“Nope. Just got here.”

“You’re a terrible liar.”

He shuts the door and toes off his sneakers. I do the same; as Mom would say, “Mind your manners; you’re not an animal.”

“Close your eyes,” he says.

“Are you planning to kill me?” I deadpan and do as he says.

I’m tempted to peek as I hear manic rustling and shuffling, but I’m too nervous. My heart is pounding so loudly, it sounds like it’s in my ears.

“Okay, open.”

The room is dimly lit. There’s a tee thrown over Jack’s lamp for some makeshift mood lighting, and a battery-operated tea light candle in a glass CIA holder “burning” on Jack’s desk.

“They don’t sell real candles in the bookstore, for obvious reasons.” He mimes an explosion with his hands. “But they had this, and I wanted our time together to be perfect. Oh, and obviously, they don’t sell wine or champagne either on campus, but they did have Mountain Dew and these cool plastic mason jars with handles, which are just practical. And in case you wanted a snack …” He holds up a package of Ferrero Rocher hazelnut chocolates.

“Setting the mood? Nice. But, um …”

“What?” His face falls. “Do you not like Mountain Dew? There’s a vending machine down the hall. I think they have Dr Pepper or something.”

I laugh. “No, it’s just. I don’t know that I’m ready to have sex.”

His eyes go wide. “Whoa. Chase. Neither am I.”

“Right. Of course.” Wow. Completely misread that one. I’m so dense. My cheeks are red-hot, and I can’t look directly at him, or I’ll collapse into a pile of ashes.

He moves in closer, grabbing my waist. He stares at me until I turn to face him. He’s smiling like a goofball. “I want to take our time. This is new for me, and I think … I don’t know. It’s like I’ve been running my entire life, but then I met you, and I finally stopped. And these past two weeks have been so brutal. I couldn’t even shower. Rhett had to stop me from wearing my bathrobe to class.”

“You brought a robe with you. To college?”

Jack nods toward his open closet, and sure enough, there it is. “Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.”