BONUS SCENE BECAUSE WE MADE IT TO THE FIRST PAGE OF THE POPULAR TAB!
(THIS WAS DELETED FROM THE MIDDLE OF CHAPTER 29)

“What are you doing?” Luke asked when I flipped his hand over.
“I can read palms. You said you wished there was a way for you to know what lies ahead. This is a way… Kinda.” I straightened his fingers, examining his palm. “So the fun thing about you being a guy is that the left hand is what you’re born with, and the right is what you’ve accumulated. That’s why we’re looking at the right. It tells your story.” I looked up to him, his eyes burning into the portion of his hand that I was soothing my fingers over. “It’s the opposite for girls.” I filled the awkward silence with a stupid fact, returning my gaze back to his hand.

His focus on me was too intense for me to confidently tell him what his palm was saying. It wasn’t good—it was horrible, in fact. I’ve never seen someone with all the worst options.
“You know what, this is stupid. We shouldn’t do this.” I tried to let go of his hand, but he wouldn’t let me.
“What does it say? Come on, now I want to know.” When I didn’t reply, he sighed. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”
“Well, palm reading isn’t a science. Sometimes it’s completely inaccurate. It all depends on someone’s beliefs and attitude.” I attempted to cover up the fact that I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, and he let out a small laugh.
“Okay, with that in mind: What does my palm say?”

“This is your heart line.” I traced over it lightly. “You see how it’s broken?” He nodded. “That indicates—um—emotional trauma.” I skipped to the next line, not wanting to dwell on the emotional trauma. “This is your head line, and this one is your life line. The way that your head line is separated from the life means that you’re enthusiastic.” His lifeline, diagonal on his skin, came after. “Since your life line is straight, you’re cautious when it comes to relationships, and-” Finally, onto the fate line. Deep. “—Oh my god,” I lowered my voice to a whisper, pulling his hand closer. Maybe a joke could cover up this awkwardness.

“What do you see, baby?” That word stopped me dead in my tracks. He’s never called me that before. He’s never called me anything endearing.
“Um… You’re going to die.” I finished my original joke, but it came out more serious than I originally intended.
“Ah, that’s not news to me.” I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re joking, aren’t you?” Nodding, I chewed on my bottom lip.
“But you do have a fate line. It’s deep, so you’re controlled by fate.” When I looked up at him, he was already staring at me. “Not everyone has a fate line.” I tried to fill the silence, clearing my throat and finally letting go of his hand. But he grabbed mine instead.

“It’s my turn now,” he said, tracing over my life line first. “You live a cautious life,” he guessed, moving over to draw my head line. “But those wheels in your head never stop turning. You don’t want to be cautious, but your brain outweighs the things you want to try. Really, deep down, you want danger.” I stifled my laughter as he moved to the heart line. “And you are uncontrollably, undeniably, insanely attracted to me. Really Val, wow, your heart line is telling me that you’re just crazy about me.” My face heated up.
“Am I?” I asked with a small laugh
“The lines don’t lie, Val. They are scientifically correct 100% of the time.” I rolled my eyes. “Now because your life line is telling me you’re cautious, and your head line is telling me you’re longing to break out of your shell, I think it’s only fitting that I help you do that.” I wasn’t sure what he was getting at, but I smiled anyways.
“Well, you’re the one who brought it to my attention. It’s only fair.” And with that, he leaned forward to press his lips on mine.

Notes