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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

Warmth spreads through me. I try to mask the butterflies raging beneath my skin by extending the conversation. “You know, for someone who asked for a tutor, you spent an awful lot of time in the beginning not studying.”

“You’re more interesting than English,” he says, grinning.

I raise an eyebrow. “Sure.”

He chuckles, squeezing my hand. “I told you before, Karina. I saw a spark in you.”

“Every time you say that, you sound more ridiculous,” I say, but I don’t pull away.

“Good,” he says before his eyes light up. “Hey, I just remembered I want to show you something. Are you done eating?”

I glance down at my plate, which is almost empty. I didn’t realize how hungry I was. “Yeah.”

Ace leans over, blows out the candle, and takes my hand. “Come on.”

38

T-MINUS 10 DAYS

The piano. That’s where Ace is leading us.

After he flicks on the lights in his room, he gestures for me to join him on the piano bench. “Sit with me.”

I take a seat, eyeing the beautiful piano curiously. Is Ace going to play something? “What did you want to show me?”

Ace looks torn for a split second, but his expression eases at whatever he sees on my face. “It’s hard to play in front of other people,” he says, pressing his thumb against a key. “My friend Ben is a natural performer. He loves crowds. Me...not so much.”

I give him a curious look. “You’ve mentioned Ben before. How’d you two meet?”

His mouth turns up in the corner. “It was during a competition in Brussels. He accidentally dropped coffee on my sheet music. Ben—he’s a prodigy. Shines brightest on stage. I think it intimidates people, but I don’t really care about all that, you know?”

I bump shoulders with him. “Yeah, I know. You can be pretty intimidating yourself.”

Ace huffs a laugh. “So I’ve been told. But yeah, I think Ben expected me to freak out, except I just took it in stride. I know shit happens sometimes. From then on, we stuck together when we saw each other at competitions.” He pauses. “He told me to say hi to you, by the way.”

I grin. “Did he now?”

A flush spreads across Ace’s cheekbones and he looks down at the piano. “Anyway, during competitions, I have to pretend no one else is around. I used to be able to play only in front of my mom. But she’s in Italy now, and I’m here, so...”

“Why is she in Italy?” I ask. I’ve wondered for a while now, but it never seemed like a good time to ask.