Page 170 of Hometown Halftime

Adrenaline surges through me the second Lee finishes speaking. Pittsburgh is six hours away from Cedar Falls, which only adds to the insanity of this plan. And yet that realization only makes me move faster, because I’m done pretending that this is all okay.

“Thank you.”

I spin toward the bar while my hands shake, and grab my purse, searching for my keys.

“THAT’S MY RUGBY COACH!” Knox yells from behind me while Brynn cheers loudly enough that the rest of the bar joins in.

“Gordy!” I shout toward the kitchen.

His head appears in the kitchen window. “What?”

“I gotta go!”

“When are you coming back?” he yells after me.

A breathless laugh escapes me as I walk toward the door. “I don’t know, but please don’t fire me yet!”

Then I’m running toward my Jeep.

The drive to Pittsburgh feels like a lifetime. Six straight hours of spiraling thoughts cycle through my head while highway lines blur beneath my headlights.

Every mile toward Pittsburgh makes the panic worse. I can’t stop wondering if he’s already moved on, or if the last couple of months taught him how to live without me. And somewhere beneath all that fear sits the thought that hurts most of all—that I never should’ve let him leave without me.

I nearly turned around twice. But above every panicked thought sits one overwhelming truth I can’t outrun anymore.

I love him too much not to try.

When I pull into the hotel parking garage just after midnight, my body feels strung tight with adrenaline and exhaustion. My hands shake while I ride the elevator upstairs, and for one terrifying second while standing in the hallway outside room 920, I almost lose my nerve completely.

I stare at the door while my pulse pounds so hard it makes me feel sick. Then I knock. I can hear movement inside the room, making my stomach twist violently.

Then the door opens and shock floods Riley’s face.

For a second he doesn't move. He just stands there staring at me with those familiar dark eyes, and suddenly the last two months collapse between us. Because nobody has ever looked at me the way Riley Weston does.

“Kinsey?” he says, completely stunned. “What are you doing here?”

He stares at me like he honestly thinks he might be hallucinating. Then his eyes fill with something raw enough to almost wreck me right there in the hallway.

I step forward, grabbing the front of his shirt and pushing him backward into the room.

“Whoa—”

I shove the sleeve up his arm hard enough that the fabric twists in my fist before I point at the tattoo as tears threaten my eyes.

“What is that?”

Riley exhales shakily. “Kinsey—”

“No.” The tears fall while I stare up at him. “Fuck, Riley, I can’t do this anymore.”

The shock on his face turns to fear.

“I can’t keep pretending I’m okay without you,” I confess. “And I can’t keep acting like loving you means I’m supposed to stay behind while you chase your dreams. When all I want to do is chase them with you.”

Riley keeps his eyes on me, his breathing uneven, emotion flickering so openly across his face now that it almost hurts to look at him. I step closer.

“Whatever happens,” I tell him, my voice breaking, “wherever you go, I’m willing to go too.”