I glanced out the alley to make sure we hadn’t been noticed. “I don’t know if that’s quite what happened.”
His glare was rather ferocious. “Care for me to refresh your memory?”
Nope, not at all. “You’re distracting yourself from what’s important.”
He gaped at me. “Your level of self-awareness would be remarkable if it wasn’t so terrifying.”
“Thank you.”
“That wasn’t—”
“Don’t you want to know why we’re here?” I asked.
“No.”
“You did just a second ago.”
“I’ve since changed my mind.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to know? Not even a little bit?”
“Sam, if you don’t take me back to the castle this instant, I’m going to make sure you’re miserable for the rest of our lives.”
My heart swelled. It was inevitable.
He took a step back. “What. Why are you looking at me like that? Like you’re having feelings?”
I needed to hug him very badly. “Because,” I said, taking a step toward him. “You just said you wanted me to be miserable for the rest of our lives. Like we’re going to live long and miserably together. Forever. As best friends.”
He blanched as he held up his hands, back hitting the brick wall of the building behind him. “That’s not what I meant. You stay back! You hear me? Godsdammit, Sam, you stay back—”
“We’re going to hug,” I demanded, taking another step.
“No, no we’re not.”
“You can’t stop it,” I said, holding my arms out wide. “It’s gonna happen.”
“Godsdammit, I will kick you in the—”
But before he could move, I had him pressed up against the brick wall, arms wrapped tightly around him. His arms were trapped at his sides. I laid my head on his shoulder, tucking my nose against his neck. “Shh,” I said. “Shh. It’s okay. It’s okay. Just let it happen.”
“You are hugging me against my will.”
“There’s no such thing,” I whispered. It was a good hug. Maybe not the best, but we had time to get there. Justin had just all but admitted that. It was glorious. I would probably write a poem about this day when we got back home.
He sighed heavily, like he couldn’t believe I could be so wonderful. “You really don’t understand boundaries, do you?”
“Only that they’re made to be broken,” I said. “Also, I would let your arms go, but you’ve already proven you can’t be trusted to hug me back.”
“It’s not my fault you bruise so easily,” he muttered.
“Yet you still seem to try—”
“Are we done yet?”
“It hasn’t even been a full minute. Everyone knows that hugs last for at least two minutes. It’s mandatory.”
“No one thinks that. Sam, literally no one.”