COLEEN
By the time I reached the apartment, my cheeks hurt from grinning. I fumbled with my keys, dropped them twice, then burst inside to the smell of cinnamon, the smell of Mark’s candle, and the faint echo of a guitar riff from his room.
“Mark?” I called, toeing off my boots.
“Bedroom!” he answered, then the riff cut off, and he padded into the living room in socks and a hoodie with the band’s name splashed across the front. He took one look at my face and set the guitar aside.
“You’re either about to cry or you’ve just discovered puppies on campus.”
“Neither.” I shrugged off my coat, suddenly bashful in a way I hadn’t been since middle school. “Hayden asked me out. Like, on a real date, and I said yes.”
Mark didn’t squeal, he wasn’t Alicia, but his smile was all bright teeth and
