If Only Read Online Free PDF Page A

his head, not to me but to himself. But I read him with no mistake. Whatever happened between him falling out of the loo and now shouldn’t have.
    “Good-bye, Noah.” My voice trembles, and I’m beyond faking a conciliatory grin.
    The book, the kiss. It all added up to something so right. That should have tipped me off that it was instead so, so wrong.
    I turn to the door and walk through without looking back.
    Griffin’s eyes lock on mine as he watches my approach. His shoulders relax, and he welcomes me with a grin.
    “How long was I out?” he asks, his eyes glossy with sleep.
    “Maybe a half hour.”
    I plop down next to him, not willing to elaborate on our time apart while still trying to process what it was I’d been doing for the past thirty minutes.
    I rip open my salt-and-vinegar crisps, offering Griffin first dibs.
    “No thanks.” He holds up a hand in protest. “Can’t stand those.”
    “You’re missing out,” I say, popping one into my mouth.
    But the food does nothing to satisfy the knots in my stomach. Griffin made it clear he wouldn’t mind kissing me, but he held back, never made a move. Noah and I talk Gatsby for mere minutes and wind up snogging like that pervy teen wished he was. Everything about Griffin tells me to run, but something else tells me if he were the one to kiss me, he wouldn’t follow up with mortification at what he’d done. Because as soon as Noah looked at his phone, he couldn’t get away fast enough. Ridiculous and insane—that’s all it was.
    But through the pungent vinegar of my favorite chips, I still taste his sweetness, still recall the fresh scent of spring.
    Parallel universe one, Jordan zero. Time to take a page from Griffin and trade in the inner monologue for straightforwardness. I’m not wasting my year on guessing. Maybe right now is all that matters.
    “Gimme your phone,” I say, and he hands it to me without question. I type in my contact information and hand it back. He raises a brow but says nothing.
    I look at him for a long moment before turning my eyes to the seatback in front of me.
    Hello, Mr. Right Now.

Chapter Three
    I know London, have loved it since the first time we visited my father’s distant cousins. Boarding the train from London to Scotland, though, leaving the familiar for strangers in a strange place, was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. But now there’s this guy. He’s going where I’m going. And he has dozed off on my shoulder.
    It’s impossible for me not to smell Griffin’s hair. I mean, his sandy waves are right by my face. It would only take the slightest maneuver for me sneak a whiff. But what if he catches me? So what if he catches me! His head is resting on my shoulder. I turn away from the window, ready to go in for the kill. My eyes catch the gaze of a little girl across the aisle. She’s probably no older than six, coloring in a book on her lap. A sweet smile spreads across her innocent little face, and I smile back. When she breaks eye contact, I dip my nose into Griffin’s locks. Almost as quickly as I inhale I turn back to look out the window, Griffin none the wiser…until he hears, “Mummy! Why is that lady smelling that man’s hair?”
    Shit. Or maybe I should start thinking in shites .
    Perhaps not everything sounds good in a British accent.
    Heat spreads from my neck up through my face. If I were a cartoon, steam would be sprouting from the top of my head. The weight on my shoulder disappears, and instead I feel the heaviness of Griffin’s stare. I keep my eyes forward, refusing to acknowledge him. Griffin, silently laughing, puts a hand gently on my shoulder, turning me toward him to face me and my humiliation head on. But I am a statue, an immovable, blushing statue.
    Griffin shakes his head dramatically, like he’s in a shampoo commercial. Oh good God.
    “Most people can’t resist my luxurious waves. Don’t worry about it. You had no choice.”
    Ah, yes. Relieve my mortification with teasing.