Page 91 of Us in Ruins

“We don’t have to hide. Everyone knows we’re dating, Van,” she laughed. “It’s not a secret.”

He reached into his pocket. “No, but this is.”

She didn’t know what she expected—an actual piece of Cretan gold from Minos himself?—but it wasn’t a bouquet of delicate white myrtles. Nestled in the blooms was a wax-sealed envelope with a familiar school crest.

“What is this?” The cardstock envelope was heavy, a thick ivory. Margot recognized the spilling maroon seal from her own Radcliffe acceptance letter. “How is this?”

Van rocked his weight between his feet. Nervous, almost. “Dr. Hunt wrote one hell of a recommendation letter since I’d never actually finished high school. And tuition’s covered, all things considered.”

Margot threw her arms around his neck, lifting onto her toes to reach. “You’re seriously coming?” When he nodded, she squealed, squeezing tighter.

“Oh,” he said casually as he pulled out a scroll and started walking down the alley between the ruins, “and there’s this.”

Margot ran, shaking her flowers and shouting after him, “You had a treasure map, and you didn’t lead with that?”

“What?” Van asked, and she could hear the smile on his lips. “I thought you said girls like flowers.”

“Girls are not a monolith!” she said, her feet pounding the cobbled pavement.

“I’m sure you’ll keep on surprising me.” Van sped up, even if he kept a hand in his pocket, pretending to be unbothered. But when he darted a glance over his shoulder, Margot saw the way he grinned.

Framed by the gauzy afternoon sunlight with laughter bubbling out of her as she chased Van through the ruins, a breathless kind of happiness took Margot by surprise—and it wasn’t just the unexpected cardio. She was enough to be loved, exactly as she was.

And as Van caught her hand and twirled her into his arms, pressing a kiss to her lips, she knew that their happy ending was only the beginning.