章 99: Just a Classmate?    

"Daniel."

He heard Eve calling his name, and though he had his headphones on, he wasn't actually listening to anything, so he caught it the first time.

But Daniel pretended not to hear—for one simple reason. He loved hearing her say his name.

"Daniel. Daniel."

Keeping his eyes on his textbook, he tried hard not to smile at the sound of her voice calling for him. But when she gave him a little nudge, the spell broke, and he had no choice but to finally look up.

"Did you need something?" he asked, keeping his tone serious, even as his heart sped up when their eyes met.

He'd known Eve was beautiful even as a girl, but growing up, she was downright dazzling.

"That keychain—is that a shop around here?"

Daniel looked down at the keychain and nodded. "This? Yeah, it's a pet store. They're over on Hudson Bend, about a thirty-minute ride from here."