Flashback ( PDFDrive )

And it only grew bigger when she bumbled out, “And you know I
don’t just mean ‘like,’ right? I mean like. Like, like, like.”
UGH—WHY WAS SHE SO BAD AT THIS?
Fitz laughed and took her other hand, holding on in a way that felt
different from all the other times they’d held hands before—like he
was never going to let her go again. Which miraculously stopped her
from saying “like” anymore.
It might’ve stopped her from ever talking again. Especially when
she realized his eyes were now focused on her lips.
“Sooooo . . .” He dragged out the word. “What do we do now?”
Sophie had ideas.
Lots of ideas.
But then Fitz dropped her hands and clutched his chest, blowing
out a breath.
“Oh no—is it your echo?” she gasped, reaching for him in case he
needed help regaining his balance.
“I’m fine,” he promised through another slow exhale. “Better than
fine.”
He glanced down to his heart, where she hadn’t realized her hand
now rested.
And they were standing even closer.
So, so close.
They’d barely have to move, if they wanted to . . .
But Sophie couldn’t seem to find the courage to close that last bit of
space. Because this was Fitz, and it was everything, and . . . what if she
was bad at it? The only other time she’d done it hadn’t exactly gone
well. And if she had to see that kind of disappointment in his eyes, she
—