Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The Portside water tower is so high that vertigo swirls in my head when I look down, but the view is spectacular. The girl beside me, though—she’s even more terrifying … and far more beautiful.
Kit had brought her a change of clothes, but she’s Sophie and did her own thing—leggings under her dress, a quick rip up the slit so she could climb. It’s enough to make a guy lose his mind. She looks like a Cirque du Soleil performer in the best way.
I bump her shoulder, and her grin peeks through.
What a can of worms I’ve been begging to open. Help me do this right. I’m all yours. All of this is yours.
She’s uncharacteristically quiet, my fingers laced around hers. These are the hands that have been poking and pushing me for months. Finally holding them is deeply satisfying.
“We’re good after yesterday, yeah?” I ask. “Powell has terrible timing.”
“Oh, come on.” Voice dripping with sarcasm. “One guy asked me out. Meanwhile, Izzy wants next on deck.”
I send her a look. “Cut it out. If this goes the way I want it to, there is no ‘next on deck’—” I wince. Too late, too unfiltered. My adrenaline is running out, and my mouth is running ahead of me.
She stares at our hands, avoiding my eyes. “Your hands are huge. I love them. They’re like bear paws.”
I chuckle, trying to brush off the nerves. “So what’s your assessment? Was the climb worth it?”
“Beyond worth it. It’s crazy how well you know me.” She glances up from under her lashes, vulnerable. “This whole night has been … perfect. You’re just the best.” Then she furrows her brow, relaxing into her playful usual. “If I keep telling you that, are you gonna get a big head?”
“That’s a real risk, Sparky.”
A perfect grin. “Oh well. You’re the best.”
When I kiss the back of her hand, I linger a second longer than I should. I didn’t know it could be this good. We made it past the friend zone. The girl I love kissed me. Yeah—pretty sure this is the real deal love. And now we’re on top of the world. Kind of literally.
Then she pulls her hand away. “I’m an idiot for saying this right now, but I really don’t know how this can work.”
My body goes still.
“I’m not saying we don’t try, but we aren’t really … compatible.” She darts a glance at me. “Surely you’ve thought about this already. I mean, I want to see the world, and you want to drink sweet tea and watch the sun go down.”
All this time, that’s what’s been bouncing around her head?
“Why not both?”
She smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.
On one hand, she’s thinking long term on our first night together. That means she’s serious about this. But on the other hand, she’s already penciled out the reasons we won’t make it.
“Can we take a picture?” she asks suddenly.
Whiplash much? “’Kay …”
She expertly angles her phone, snaps a few shots before settling on one where I’m watching her instead of the camera.
A hard launch? That means something. And Powell will see it.
Her fingers fly across the screen, typing a caption I don’t catch, and then the phone disappears into the pocket of her leggings.
“Are you gonna wreck me?” I blurt.
Her face droops into something apologetic.
My stomach falls off the water tower. Nope—that was my heart, and I’m waiting to hear it splatter below.
I can’t bring myself to ask what her face meant. It couldn’t be the sweet-tea thing, right? Surely not.
She’s always responded to me so effortlessly. I tease her, she teases back. I smile, she smiles back. I tap her arm, she pushes mine. I kiss her, and boy did she kiss me back. But now the game’s changed. I’ve fallen for her, and she’s … what? Hovering in midair?
The play isn’t going well, but it’s not a total emergency.
I’m in the pocket, still got a second to scramble.
I’ll win her over. I’ll take care of everything for her, in every part of her life.
I’ll be her hero, her friend, her confidant, her partner, her admirer, her planner, her biggest fan.
I’ll make sure she gets all the new and different she can stomach.
I’ll captivate her like she’s captivated me from day one.
Levi waited months with barely any encouragement.
I’ve already got three kisses to fuel me. I can do this.
So I lean in, lips brushing her ear. “We’ll see about that.”
Her shoulders rise, her eyelashes flutter. Success. I made it back to the line of scrimmage and gained at least a couple yards. For good measure, I press a kiss under her ear.
“You’d better quit that,” she says, hushed and wobbly. “I’m gonna fall off this thing.” And she inches her hand back into mine.
Yeah, I’m not mad about this. She’s already making it a thrill for me.
I need this to work. I want it so bad. Please help me.
When we meet up with the others to drive back, they shove us into the back row like the ride-or-die friends they are.
Sophie doesn’t argue—just fakes a yawn, as if she’s Kit, then drops her head onto my lap as natural as can be.
I’m only a man, so I slide Haymitch’s ridiculous green jacket under her head while she pretends to sleep. Yeah, right, Soph.
I love that she wants to be close to me. Love that she decided to try a New Us despite her reservations. Love that she’s giving me a shot to prove that I can be what she needs.
Levi’s got Switchfoot blaring up front to stay awake, so I can’t sing to her. Instead I run my fingers through her hair. She exhales long—content, I hope. My heart presses against my ribs.
I love her more every minute.
Okay, no, I’m not sleeping. How could I, when Austin is this close, his hands in my hair like some kind of dream? How could I after a night like this? I’ll never process it all.
Pre–water tower, he wadded up his ascot and button-up—three buttons and over the head—so it’s just me and his T-shirt. One of his hairy arms rests on my side like a weighted blanket. I’ve never felt safer.
Levi announces he’ll pull up to Griffin Hall to save us a walk. The Rover’s interior lights flick on, too bright. I drag myself out of the most magical position on earth to climb out of the car, rub my eyes.
Oh—Austin swoops me up, his arms warm beneath my knees and back. Not even an exhale from him, as if he just picked up a backpack or a football. I curl into his chest.
“I’ll at least carry you to the door.”
He’s not even allowed in the lobby this late—school rules—but I kind of get it now.
If he carried me to my room, I’d have a hard time letting him leave.
I want to do things God’s way and wait till I’m married for, well, a lot of things.
That commitment suddenly feels incredibly confining, but I reject the thought.
I’m not bailing on this. That stuff isn’t freedom.
Kit’s a champ for staying out till four in the morning for me. Campus is silent except for the sound of my friends’ footsteps on the pavement.
When we reach the side door, he sets me down gently. I tug on his shoulder, but he shakes his head. “I’m fresh out of discipline. Night, Soph.” But he does kiss the top of my head before he makes for Albert.
“Good night,” I call. “Thanks for tonight.”
Move over, Cinderella. Tonight my prince was also my fairy godmother and my carriage.
In the blindingly bright stairwell, Mia and Kit suffocate me in a squealing, delirious hug.
And then a song link arrives, just as I land in my bed.
Austin
Song of the day
“In Case You Didn’t Know” by Brett Young