He was surprised to realize just how much his sister knew about Serena. He’d thought Maddie was the only one in his family who read the kind of magazines his picture had been in today, but now he wondered if his more serious sister had secretly been reading them, too.

“Because,” Olivia continued, “even if she doesn’t want to go back, even if she wants to stay here to learn and even date you when you get your way like you always do,” she added with a small smile, “what if something comes up that she can’t say no to?”

For all that his sister had said so far tonight, it was what she didn’t say that was clearest of all: She was worried that if he actually went and fell in love with Serena and then she left him...wanting to be numb would only be the tip of the iceberg for him. Because obviously, over the past months, Olivia had noticed his drinking. His partying. And she was clearly worried that if things didn’t work out with Serena, he’d take things even further. Even darker.

Forcing away the thought that his sister might be right about the risk of falling for Serena, he said, “How about you wait until I convince her to actually call what we’re doing this Friday night a date before you go all worst-case-scenario on me?”

“Mom would—”

“Have wanted to meet Serena before she made any decisions about her.”

Olivia finally stopped protesting. “You’re right, she would have.”

And he was also right that it was becoming increasingly difficult for his sister to try to fill their mom’s shoes. Olivia was awesome. But no one could be Lisa Morrison.

He could also see that while his sister clearly didn’t like his determination to continue moving things forward with Serena, she also knew when it was pointless to try to hold him back.

“So, when will I get to meet her? When will all of us get to meet her?”

“Hopefully soon. Actually, since you’re here, I’ve got a question for you. Ever played Frisbee Golf on the campus course?”

She looked at him like he was insane. “No. I didn’t even know it was still there. I mean, who actually plays Frisbee Golf anymore? Even in the seventies people could barely bring themselves to play it.”

He grinned. “Something tells me the sport is about to make a comeback.”

“You’re weird,” she said, but she was grinning as she stood up to leave, and he was glad to see his sister smile again. The first one he’d seen on her face in far too long.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Sean didn’t believe in picking a girl up late for a date, but he’d never been fifteen minutes early, either. Still, something told him Serena probably wouldn’t mind if he came up to her spot on the third floor of the library a little ahead of schedule. At least, he hoped she wouldn’t, and that she’d lost at least some of her well-honed concentration to thinking about him. Because Lord knew he’d lost plenty this week thinking about her.

“Hi, Janice. How’s your week been?”

The woman behind the information desk smiled. “Good. Are you here to book more time in the archives?”

He started to shake his head, when he realized it was one hurdle he didn’t have to worry about jumping again. All because of Serena. And though he probably wouldn’t be picking up a camera any time soon, that didn’t mean he couldn’t at least enjoy looking at some of the best photographs in the world.

“I came to pick up Serena, but booking more time is a great idea.”

After they’d arranged for an hour midweek when she would be personally available to bring out some of the hidden gems people rarely got a chance to see, he jogged up the stairs. The second he saw the top of Serena’s baseball cap, he smiled.

The library was the last place in the world that should have been romantic, or felt special. But when he looked at her, he realized it was both. Even better, late on a Friday afternoon, no one else was around and it felt like it was all theirs.

“Hey, beautiful.”

She jumped slightly in her seat, the way she had before when he’d surprised her reading with her headphones on. Next time he’d have to figure out a better way to get her attention.

“Hi. I set my alarm to go wait for you downstairs, but I guess I didn’t hear it go off.”

“I’m early.” If he’d been smart, he would have taken the extra fifteen minutes and just stared at her from a distance to try to get his fill of her beauty. “Do you need to finish up?”

“No.” She closed her book. “I’ve kind of had a hard time concentrating this afternoon.” Her cheeks flushed at the admission. “I couldn’t stop wondering what you had planned for us.”

He reached out to tilt up the brim of her baseball cap so that he could better see her face. “You’ll never guess, so you shouldn’t even bother trying.” When she looked a little worried, he added, “But I’m pretty sure you’re going to have fun.”

Her face was such an open book—happy to see him one minute, a little worried the next, and then trying to trust him when he asked her to. How the hell he was going to keep from kissing her today, he didn’t have a freaking clue.

All he knew was that the next time they kissed had to be because she wanted it, not because he couldn’t keep from reaching for her again and crashing his lips against hers.

When he picked up her bag, he was surprised by how light it was. “Finally given up carrying around bricks all day?”

She laughed. “I might have bought a couple of ebooks this week. Just to try them out, mind you.”

As they headed downstairs, it would have been perfectly natural to take her hand. But at the last second, he stopped himself. They hadn’t talked boundaries, hadn’t discussed public perception, hadn’t yet worked their way around to whether this was really a date or just two friends hanging out. For the first time, he understood what it must have been like for the girls he’d been with over the years, not knowing where they stood with him. No doubt they’d all love to see the tables turned on him now.

But since he’d been worrying all week about the way her professor had been looking at her before her meeting with him, first he had to ask, “How’d the rest of your week go? I kind of got a weird vibe from that English professor.”

She shot him a slightly surprised look before saying, “I felt the same way at first, but, actually, this week has been totally fine. And I guess he already got what he wanted out of our meeting on Monday, because he hasn’t set up another one since then.”