Chapter 48

I went up, up, and even higher. I wasn’t afraid of where it was taking me. My terror had stayed behind, smothered by the darkness.

Because Leandro was there. I could feel his arms around me—really around me—and I could smell the sweet, musky hint of his skin, and if it wasn’t so damn bright, I would bet I could see him, too.

Wherever I was going, wherever this was taking me, I wouldn’t be alone.

And that was all that mattered.14

Winter had settled in the Bay Area, leaving the air damp and chilly, but I had a spring in my step anyway, and for the life of me, I could not stop whistling. I loved the first day of a new semester. Fresh starts, fresh faces, nobody had yet to disappoint me with pedantic analyses or pathetic excuses about why they couldn’t get their papers in on time. Anything could happen on a first day, and the two classes I’d had that morning held more promise than any I’d had since I’d started working at Stanford.