We round the corner onto my street and I’ve never been so unhappy to see my apartment building.
I glance over at him, nudging his arm with mine. “Okay, so that goal…” He smirks. “Oliver, it was insane.”
He lets out a laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, I was, uh… a little wound up.”
“Wound up?” I repeat, disbelieving. “You looked like you were angry at the ball."
He glances at me sideways. “I was.”
“Why?”
“Why?” His jaw ticks. “You know why.”
I blink. “Do I?”
Oliver stops at my front steps, turning to look right at me. “The way he talked to you, like he still has a right to you. I—”
“Matt?”
“Yes,” he says, eyes locked on mine. “I pictured his head, then I struck the ball dead center. It helped.”
I bite back a smile, because the heat in his voice sinks right into me.
We reach my apartment door too quickly. I slow to a stop, pulling my keys out of my pocket, suddenly wishing I’d lost them tonight.
“Thanks again for walking me,” I say, voice quiet as I turn around to face him.
“Yeah.” Oliver nods. “O-of course.”
There’s a long beat where neither of us moves. I open my mouth to say something to fill the silence, but he takes a step closer. His hand comes up, cupping the side of my face, and he kisses me.
He kisses me like he means it, like he’s stealing the air from my lungs. Like he’s been holding back for so long, but he can’t anymore. I can’t either.
It’s soft at first, but then his other hand slips around my waist and it’s pent-up, soul-deep need.
And I’m kissing him back, like I’ve wanted to for weeks. Like I should have kissed him back in Stratton Wood.
His thumb brushes the line of my jaw like he’s memorizing every inch of me.
But then he pulls back.
His hands drop, and I see the panic flicker in his eyes as he steps back, like the weight of what happened hits him all at once.
“Goodnight, Addison,” he says too fast, voice tight.
Addison. Not Addie.
And then he’s gone.
And I’mleft in the doorway, tracing my tingling lips, whispering “damn it” to the empty hallway.
26
one on one
EARNED IT BY THE WEEKND
I have no idea where I’m going. I just start walking, like I can outrun the sheer stupidity of what I just did.
