Read Moving Forward (Moving Neutral, Book Three) for Free Online

I still hadn’t come up with a Plan B for getting Blake to talk to me.  If this didn’t work, I’d have to start back at zero.
    But as I made my way out of the library on Friday, my cell phone buzzed.  Looking down, I saw a text message from Liv. 
    He’s in.  Friday night. 
    When I called her back, she gave me the same address as the place I’d seen her band play that week.  The venue knew Blake was playing, but she assured me they wouldn’t promote him.  As far as anyone knew, it was just her band, just like before.
    We spent an hour on the phone working out the plan, but I still felt my stomach flutter when I hung up.  Everything was in motion.  All that was left was to see how it played out. 
     
     
    The next day, as I walked back across campus to my dorm to get ready, I ducked down a path that I’d never taken before.  It was almost the end of the semester, but people hadn’t buckled down to study for exams quite yet, so I figured most of the department buildings would still be open for business.
    I walked south down Columbia’s campus , trying to force myself to think about the English paper I still had to write, the exams that were looming on the not-so-distant horizon.  I tried to think about multivariable calculus.
    After a few minutes, I sighed.  As hard as I tried, I couldn’t make myself think about anything but Blake. 
    Walking to the far side of campus, I passed crunchy, brown grass that the maintenance staff had clearly given up on until spring, hardly noticing the students with overstuffed backpacks and headphones.  Cold weather and final exams had definitely changed the tone of the campus—it felt like a million years ago that Darby and I had made our way in sundresses with dozens of nervous freshman girls to the sorority houses.
    Consulting my phone quickly, I found the building I was looking for and pulled open the heavy wooden door.
    The building was on the far end of campus, so off my usual track that I’d never been inside.  But today, I had a reason to go in.
    Opening up a heavy wood door, t he inside looked like someone had converted a catholic church into an office building, all maple moldings and intricate colored-glass windows.  My feet were muffled by an oriental rug as I made my way to the only person I saw, a man in his twenties with shaggy hair leaning over a desk in the center of the room. 
    “Excuse me?” I walked up behind him, trying not to startle him.  He hadn’t looked up since I’d opened the door, and I wasn’t sure he’d even noticed me.  “Is there someone who works here?”
    He turned around, an easy smile on his face.  “That’s a good question,” he said.  “It seems to be just you and me.”
    I frowned.  “So… do you work here?”
    “ It’s a logical assumption.”
    I frowned.  “Is that a yes or a no?”
    “Depends.  What do you need?”
    I frowned.  “Not the Cheshire cat,” I mumbled, and he snorted in response.  “I’m trying to sign up for some lessons.”
    His smile widened.  “What kind of lessons?”  I opened my mouth, but he held up a hand to stop me.  “Let me guess.  Freshman girl, probably the top of her high school class… Piano?”
    I glared at him, shaking my head.
    “Violin?”
    I rolled my eyes, shaking my head no again.
    “Ukulele?”
    “Listen, I’ll just come back.”
    “Ah, no, wait, I’ve got it.  Voice, huh?”
    I paused for a second, and then shook my head a final time.  “Guitar,” I said, quiet and determined.  “I want guitar lessons.”
    He looked me up and down, appraising .  “You play guitar, huh?  Are you any good?”
    I looked down at the rug.  “No—I mean, not yet.  I’m a beginner, I guess.”
    “Do you think you’re a little old to be starting a new instrument?”
    I glared at him, eyes flashing.  “I’m eighteen.”
    “Student here?”
    “Freshman.”
    “Why guitar?”
    “Listen, I don’t think it’s any of your business.  If there’s someone