"Are you sure you don't want to come home with me for Thanksgiving break?" Luna asks. "Trust me when I say that my mom would be more than happy to have you come to our house. I can't guarantee you won't be shocked and appalled by my family's level of crazy, though – even compared to your dad's. My mother's sister is coming, and if you think my mother is cuckoo, you should meet my aunt."

I laugh. "Thank her for the invitation, but I think I have to go back to South Hollow."

I'm lying.

Luna has been the nicest person in the world to me. She's totally taken me under her wing and looked out for me, shown me the ropes when it comes to college life – and I'm outright lying to her.

I lied to my father, too. He demanded I come back to South Hollow for Thanksgiving, but I told him I had taken extra shifts at work and that I was staying at school to study. Part of me expected him to threaten to drive to school and get me, but he didn't. He just mumbled something that sounded almost positive about my work ethic, and then hung up the phone.

I lied because I'm spending Thanksgiving break with Gabe. I thought he'd be spending the holiday with his brother, since his brother only lives an hour away. But when I asked him if he was going to be with his family during Thanksgiving, he got a weird look on his face and asked me to go away with him.

So now I'm lying to Luna and pretending I'm returning to South Hollow while lying to my father and saying that I'm staying here on campus.

Luna groans as she wrestles with her suitcase. When she finally gets the zipper done, she sighs and flops down beside her bag on the bed. "I don't need to worry about you, do I?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, do I need to worry about you going back to South Hollow? Is this like a terrible made-for-TV movie where you go back to your small town and your creepy cult leader father marries you off to some other creeper of a guy and then you never return to school?"

I choke back a laugh.

If only she knew what I was actually spending Thanksgiving doing - or who I was spending Thanksgiving doing, to put it more accurately.

"No, this is not a made-for-TV movie," I assure her. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thanks."

She grunts and gives me a skeptical look. "Says the girl who was falling over because she had one drink at a party."

I toss my pillow across the room at her. "You swore you'd never mention that incident again!"

"I lied," she declares. "No drinking in South Hollow! And don't let your creepy betrothed person – what the hell do you call him, anyway? He's not a fiancé. A suitor? Whatever he is, don't let him near you. Wait, are you going to tell your father you don't want to marry that guy?"

I snort at the idea, even if it doesn't apply to me since I'm not going back to South Hollow. "At Thanksgiving dinner? Yeah, that'll go well. 'Thank you, Lord, for the turkey, and by the way, I'm definitely not down with the arranged marriage thing, pass the potatoes'?"

"That sounds about par for the course for a Thanksgiving dinner," Luna jokes. "I'm pretty sure the holidays are all about drama."

I laugh. "I'm not sure that's normal."

"Are you kidding? My mother owns a pot shop and my aunt owns a sex toy store. So my Thanksgiving meals usually involve talking about weed and dildos."

I choke on my laughter. "Your family is at the opposite extreme end of mine."

Luna sighs. "Okay, I need to hit the road before it gets late. Are you packed yet?"

I point to my bag on the bed. "Almost ready."

"Are you certain your father is going to let you come back here? You're sure he's not going to kidnap you and keep you in South Hollow?" Luna looks dubious and concerned about my safety, which makes me feel extra-guilty for deceiving her.

I'm a terrible person.

"Yeah, I'm certain. And if I have any trouble, I have your cell number."

"Let's have a code word," she declares. "If you text me 'bananas', I'll be on the road to South Hollow in a matter of minutes."

"Bananas??"

"Text me if you have any trouble," she insists. "Especially if you feel uncomfortable during Thanksgiving dinner. You know what? Make it Thanksgiving morning. Feel free to text me on Thanksgiving morning if you're uncomfortable in any way. I'll be on the first flight to South Hollow."

"Are you just trying to avoid talk about dildos?"

"Was I that obvious?"

"You're never subtle."

Luna laughs. "That's for damned sure."

* * *

"Are you going to tell me where we're going or are you going to keep me completely in the dark until we get there?" I ask Gabriel.

"Fine. I'll give you a hint. Have you ever been on a plane?"

"What?? You're taking me on a plane?? You can't take me on a plane!"

"We're headed toward the airport, little girl. Where the hell did you think we were going? You didn't notice the airport sign a mile back?"

"I didn't think you were taking me to the airport," I protest. My heart skips a beat at the prospect of flying on a plane for the first time. I clasp my hands together, giddy without meaning to be giddy because being giddy is totally uncool. "I don't have a passport, though."

"I figured as much, which is why I'm not taking you out of the country," Gabe says. "Although, you should get a passport just to have one, you know."

"Yes, Sir." I mock-salute him. Excitement bubbles up in my chest. "Seriously, are you going to tell me where you're kidnapping me to?"

No one's ever taken me anywhere before. I've never ridden on a plane, and I've never gone anyplace except South Hollow and college. Saying I'm excited to get on a plane would be the understatement of the year.

"Do you really want to know?" Gabe asks as he makes a right turn and pulls onto the exit ramp toward airport parking. "It might be better if it's a surprise."

I can't help but squeal. Instead of being super annoying, it seems to make Gabe more pleased. "No, I can't wait. Tell me!"

He gives me a mock-exasperated sigh as he finds a parking space. "I told you to pack warm clothes, right?"

"Yes, but I don't have that many."

He shrugs. "No matter. I'm going to keep you out of your clothes as much as possible anyway. I'm taking you up to a small town in Vermont."

He's only just put the car in park when I unbuckle my seat belt and throw my arms around him. "Thank you!"

"It's just a little trip, Purity," he says gruffly.

"No one's ever done anything like this for me before."

"Well, maybe someone should."

"My first time on a plane!" I exclaim again. "I've had a lot of firsts with you."

"You'll have a lot more," he growls.

"Wait. What if someone recognizes you at the airport?"

"That's why I drove to the next town over instead of getting us a flight out of the airport in town where most of the college students go," he explains. "Besides, we're two adults who just happen to be getting on the same plane. No one needs to know that we're together-together."

Are we together-together?

I almost ask the question, but I'm afraid of what the answer might be.

This thing happening between us, the crazy sex and hanging out, is probably nothing more than that: just a thing.

Hanging out, as Luna would say, and nothing more.

Being together-together with anyone when I'm only a college freshman is a dumb idea anyway. That's a billion times truer when that person is my professor – even if the person I’m not together-together with makes me happier than I've ever been in my whole life.

Gabe smiles at me. "Well, are you going to sit there all day, or are you going to get out of the car? We do have a plane to catch, you know."

My heart feels like it's going to burst – and for a split second, I'm surer of anything than I've ever been that this man is going to make me irresistibly happy.

Then he's going to break my heart, because if there's one thing I do know about life, it's that you can't stay happy forever.