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It’s my reason for living.
For breathing.
Who am I without it?
I have no idea.
What I do know is that Juliette sees more than just hockey when she looks at me. She sees all the possibilities that I’m unable to. Because of that, the future doesn’t seem quite so scary with her by my side.
It only takes a handful of seconds before I eat up the distance between us. People call out my name as I jog past, but I don’t pay them any attention. How can I when she’s in the vicinity?
As I pull alongside her, my fingers fasten around her smaller ones as I tug her close. I just want to bury my face in the delicate hollow of her neck and breathe her in. I want to take her mouth and not come up for air for hours. The need I feel for her is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.
A gasp escapes from Juliette as I haul her into my arms, and she quickly glances around. One palm settles on my chest as she gives me a slight shove. “Ryder, we’re in the middle of campus. Anyone could see us.”
I shrug. “Why do we have to hide our relationship? Maybe we should bite the bullet and tell our families. Do you really think they’d have a problem with it?”
Then I could touch her any damn time I wanted, and people would realize that she belonged to me. The first order of business is to get her a jersey with my name on it so she can start wearing it.
That would get the word out quickly.
I make a mental note to pick one up at the campus bookstore before the next game.
Her eyes widen as surprise morphs across her features.
“In fact,” I say, warming to the idea, “we could all go out after Thursday’s game. We’ll spring it on everyone then. What do you think? Does that sound like a plan?”
She sucks her lower lip into her mouth and chews it as we continue moving along the wide path that cuts through campus.
One heartbeat passes and then another.
When she remains silent, a prickle of unease blooms in the pit of my belly as I steer her onto the grassy knoll so we’re no longer caught up in the flow of student traffic.
“What’s wrong?” My brows pinch together as I search her face. I really thought she’d be on board with this. She’s never been someone who likes to hide things or be less than truthful. Especially with her family. The four of them have always been tight knit.
Kind of like my own.
She draws in a steady breath before slowly forcing it out again. “Nothing’s wrong.”
There is. I can tell by the way her eyes flicker away as if she’s unable to hold my gaze.
“It feels like there’s a but coming,” I say carefully.
There’s a flash of emotion on her face before she forces her eyes to meet mine. I’m unsure what the look in them means.
Or maybe I do, and I’m hoping like hell that I’m wrong.
“I think we might be moving too fast.” Her voice trails off on a whisper.
It takes a heartbeat or two for her soft words to fully sink in so that my brain can make sense of them.
“Too fast?” I echo as if from far away. It’s like I’m staring at her through a long tunnel. Where we used to feel so close, she’s nothing more than a distant speck on the horizon.
“Yeah. I think this relationship is moving a bit too quickly and we should take a step back. A little space will do us both some good.”
“Space?” I wince as I echo another word.
Sorrow fills her eyes as she jerks her head into a tight nod. “With finals coming up, I need to focus. I received a low B on one of my tests and that’s never happened before. This is such an important year. I don’t want to see anything get in the way of either of us reaching our goals, you know?”
