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He shakes his head.
Relief courses through me. “She’s not? I saw you guys together, up at the pond.”
“I told her it was over. It never really started, but I guess she needed that official breakup talk anyway. It went fine. She said she picked up on—onus, I mean, you and me, Maddie. She could tell we had unresolved stuff.”
The lights of the diner form big yellow rectangles off to one side of us. In my periphery, I see Roxie press her nose to the glass. She’s holding a coffee pot. She lingers by the window pane, watching us.
Nick’s eyes search mine. “I know we promised not to ruin what we have. But I can’t keep this in. I tried.”
“What—what do you mean?” It’s like all the oxygen’s been sucked out of the air around us. My voice is choppy, choked with emotion.
Nick and I do have “unresolved stuff.”
The love I felt for him when we first met, it never went away.
I never dreamed it would be like this, to spend time with him again. I never dreamed that the feelings I once fought off would spark up again this strong.
This is all-consuming.
But they have. And tonight, I have to tell him that. No matter what.
I can’t make my heart stop racing.
Nick swallows. His eyes devour me.
“I love you, Maddison.”
My mind grasps at the words, but it’s hard to let them in.
I replay them once, then twice.
I love you, Maddison.
My fear about interrupting his checkers game with Hana gives way, releasing a dam of feelings. “You do?”
It’s a silly question. I see love written in his eyes. It’s in his voice, deepening it, making it stronger. And it’s in his touch, when he reaches out for my hand.
The familiar zap of energy courses through us, but now I don’t try to justify it, or fight it off.
I let it warm the rain-streaked air between us. I let the magnetic force of his body tug me in.
“You really do?”
Even though I know he’s being sincere, I want to hear it again.
“I love you, Maddison,” he says again, this time holding me close. His voice resonates through me, sending warm, melting feelings cascading through my body.
“I have since I met you,” he says. “You make me happy, Maddie. When I’m with you, time flies. Whatever we do, it’s the perfect thing. My life is good when you’re in it. I know you have to leave, and I want every single dream you have to come true. But I want you to know that while you’re in California, I’m going to be here, madly in love with you.”
“Madly?” My chest is filled with butterflies. A giddy smile graces my lips.
Nick smiles down at me. He reaches up and runs his finger along the side of my cheek. “Madly,” he repeats. “Like an idiot. No sense, no logic, no plan. That’s what you do to me.”
His touch lights my skin on fire.
He rests his fingers under my chin. I tilt my face up toward his.
“I’m not going to California,” I whisper.
