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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

“She’s not wrong, Ahmed,” Ace says, surprising all of us. He grins, and both Cora and Nandini look at him like he just grew a second head. “It sounds like you have a crush on me.”

“If by crush, you mean a growing urge to choke you, then yes.”

“Choke me, huh?” Ace smirks, reaching forward to wrap a lock of my hair around his finger.

Blood rushes to my cheeks. “Shut up.”

Ace chuckles and lets go of my hair, letting it spring back to hit me in the face. “We’ll talk more about this later.”

I open my mouth to protest, but he leans forward, his lips brushing my forehead, soft and unexpected. I fall silent.

Ace stands up and leaves before I can scramble together a coherent thought that isn’t just WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

“Oh my God,” Nandini says.

I turn toward her, my cheeks heated. I forgot my friends were there.

Cora isn’t even saying anything, her eyes so wide they look like they’re about to pop out of her head as she stares after Ace’s retreating back.

“Karina... Karina, what the fuck?” Nandini asks.

I shake my head. “I.” I can’t think of anything else to say. “Uh.”

Cora finally turns back to me. “Karina. He has a crush on you.”

“No,” I say immediately. “He’s being a clown. He needs to keep up his act.”

“Dude,” Nandini says, her voice high-pitched. “He definitely likes you. Stop acting clueless. I’ve had five different classes with him over the last three years, and he’s never even looked in someone else’s direction like that.”

I shake my head, but my heart is pounding ridiculously hard in my chest. I know it’s not real, that he’s faking a relationship because of Xander, but my traitorous body apparently didn’t get the memo. “I’m telling you. It’s to keep up the act.”

“Karina, I have read enough fan fiction to know exactly how this goes,” Nandini says and Cora nods in agreement. “If he doesn’t already have a crush on you, he will. It’s only a matter of time.”

I groan. “Real life isn’t fan fiction.”

Nandini gives me a pitying look and turns toward Cora. “When they inevitably end up together, do we get to say ‘I told you so’?”

“Hell yes,” Cora says, offering Nandini her pinky.

Nandini hooks their pinkies together without hesitating. Apparently my body isn’t the only traitor at this table. “It’s a pinky swear.”

I hook my own pinkies together pointedly. “And I swear I’ll tell you both ‘I told you so’ when Ace moves on after we’re done with our study sessions.”

Cora offers me a wicked grin. “Those are going to be your famous last words, Karina Ahmed.”

Part 2

PART 2

Blaze

20

T-MINUS 20 DAYS