55
Buzz
"Where are you running to?"
I can barely hear Court yelling behind me over the rain pelting down. I always wanted him and Zane to get along…just not at my expense. They couldn't have bonded over anything else? Sports? Books? Love Island USA?
"Leave me alone,"
I yell over my shoulder, not slowing down.
"You can't outrun me,"
he cries out.
"You're faster, but I've got better endurance. Remember playing tag as kids? I'd always get you in the end."
He's right. He did always end up catching me. But I'm too mad to concede, so I pick up the pace instead.
It would help if I knew where I was running to, but I don't. I just know I needed to get out of there and away from them.
What the hell were they doing, talking about me like they were characters straight out of Pride and Prejudice or something?
Make that man my own.
Court said that. He actually said that. To Zane, of all people.
I have so many questions, and the longer I run, and the more my brain starts unpacking possible answers, the heavier my legs grow. Before I know it, I'm slowing down and Court's footsteps are getting closer and louder.
"Damn it."
I groan and double over, out of breath, hands braced on my knees. Even after all these years, he still has better endurance than I do.
Court reaches me, panting hard.
"I'd forgotten how fast you can run,"
he says before grabbing my hand. "Come on."
I snatch it away from him.
"I'm not going anywhere with you."
"It's raining."
He extends his arms out wide.
"We need to talk."
"Then talk out here."
He points to our old tree house.
"Or we could go in there."
I fold my arms across my chest and shake my head like a petulant child.
"I'm not moving."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm angry at you."
"I can explain."
I stare at him through the rain and tap my foot.
"Go on, then. Explain. I can't wait to hear what you have to have to say that would justify you making fun of me behind my back. I'm not some prize, you know."
He comes closer and shakes his head to get rid of some of the water. It doesn't make a lick of difference.
"That's where you're wrong, Buzz. You're the best prize there is."
I squint.
"What are you saying?"
He bows his head slightly, locking eyes with me.
"I'm in love with you."
I raise my hand to shield my face from the rain. I—I must have misheard him. "What?"
Grabbing my hand, he tugs me closer until our bodies meet. His fingers brush against my wet cheeks.
"I said I'm in love with you."
A pressure valve opens in my chest, releasing heat that warms me up from the inside. "You are?"
He nods, droplets of rain streaming down his face.
"I am. I've been in love with you for a very long time."
"How long?"
"I can't give you an exact time and date, but definitely since high school. I was going to say something to you at prom, but you know, our parents happened."
I stare into his eyes, overwhelmed by a rush of emotions. I'm stunned, touched, nervous, even a little doubtful.
But more than anything, I'm elated.
I choke back tears.
"Well, it took you long enough to say it."
I grab the sides of his face and smash my lips into his. It's urgent. It's messy. It's very, very wet.
"Is that your way of telling me you're in love with me, too?" he asks.
I smile.
"It is, you great oaf."
"We should probably can it with the old-timey speak,"
he says, his voice thick with regret.
"I'm sorry you walked in on that. We really were just messing around, but it was dumb. I shouldn't have done it. For what it's worth, I've been wanting to tell you how I feel for a really long time."
"So why haven't you?"
"Life always got in the way. Which is a weak way of saying I let things that don't matter get in the way of something that does."
His eyes meet mine through the rain.
"You're the most important person in my life, Buzz. You always have been. You always will be. I want to be with you. For real."
His words settle over my skin like a balm, but there's a light grit beneath them I can't ignore. I've been dumped by five guys for the exact same reason. I can't repeat that pattern with Court. I can't.
"But I'm needy, Court. So needy. Every guy I've ever been with has left me because of it."
He cups my face between his wet hands.
"Hey. I'm not every guy. I've never left."
"You've never stayed,"
I point out, since that's more accurate.
"I am now."
"So you're not going back to Boston once your house arrest in Clovelly is over?"
He blows out a breath, and the warmth of it fans across my face.
"There are a lot of things I have to figure out. But those are all solvable problems. The most important thing is this."
He gestures between us.
"If this is what we both want, we'll find a way to make it work."
"You promise?"
He hooks his thumb under my chin and gently lifts it until our eyes lock.
"I promise."