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Back Counting Down with You Save as PDF
Chapters (64)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. Praise
  4. Booklist
  5. Dedication
  6. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  7. Part 1
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. Part 2
  28. 20
  29. 21
  30. 22
  31. 23
  32. 24
  33. 25
  34. 26
  35. 27
  36. 28
  37. 29
  38. 30
  39. 31
  40. 32
  41. 33
  42. Part 3
  43. 34
  44. 35
  45. 36
  46. 37
  47. 38
  48. 39
  49. 40
  50. 41
  51. 42
  52. 43
  53. 44
  54. 45
  55. 46
  56. 47
  57. 48
  58. 49
  59. 50
  60. 51
  61. 52
  62. 53
  63. 54
  64. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Ace’s gaze drops to my lips and my heart thuds painfully in my chest, too hard and too fast. “Yeah. My foolish lionheart.”

“There you guys are!” Samir’s voice calls, startling both of us. My head knocks against the wall and I wince, both at the sudden ache and the fact that I got so caught up in the moment I lost all sense of my surroundings. Ace’s hand immediately comes up to caress the back of my scalp, his fingers cool against the sore spot, but I gently push him away. “Mia sent me to make sure you didn’t get lost.”

Ace takes a step back, his fingers running through my hair. Samir is standing at the end of the street, his eyes flickering between us.

“We’re not lost,” I say swiftly, gathering my wits and walking forward. Somehow, my heart is beating even faster. Samir is staring at me, a question in his eyes, and I quicken my pace, reaching out to grab his wrist with shaking fingers. “Please don’t say anything. Please.”

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.

Samir blinks at me, his gaze darting over to Ace before returning to me. His lips curve, a smug expression overtaking his features. “I was right. You do have a crush.”

“Samir,” I say, my voice cracking. “You promised. Please.”

Ace catches up, and I let go of Samir’s wrist but keep staring at my brother desperately.

“Are you all right?” Ace asks me, eyebrows furrowed.

“Yes.” I swallow. “Right, Samir?”

My brother nods after an achingly slow moment. “Yeah.”

Ace frowns but after observing my expression, he doesn’t push. “I guess we’d better head inside before Mia has a conniption then.”

“Yeah, let’s go,” I say and squeeze Samir’s shoulder, the material of his shirt clenched between my fingers. “We’ll talk more about this later, okay?”

My brother nods again, expression pensive, but my worry doesn’t dissipate. Ace tugs gently on a strand of my hair, and I jolt, realizing I haven’t moved.

“Right, let’s go,” I say, walking ahead of both of them.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.

31

T-MINUS 15 DAYS

The inside of the bowling alley is a shock of loud voices matched with loud music, and it takes a few blinks for me to take in my surroundings. Little kids are running back and forth, parents are laughing together in the common area, and teenagers are shrieking in protest while bright strobe lights flicker overhead. It’s utter chaos and distracts me from the disquiet tearing up my chest.

Ace laughs at the expression on my face and leads me to the counter, where Mia hands us two pairs of shoes. In response to the confusion on my face, she nods toward Samir. “He told us your shoe size.”