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“What is it?” I ask, looking up at him. I can’t interpret the expression on his face.
“I… Nothing.” He lets go of my hand and disappears inside, leaving me alone. I cross my arms, ignoring the strange looks from guys entering and exiting the locker room, my heartbeat picking up the longer he’s gone. What are these mysterious messages? How could there be something he thinks is from me that I didn’t send?
“Here,” he says when he returns, handing me his phone. He won’t look me in the eye, instead staring at his feet.
At the top of the screen is my contact information with the right phone number, so there’s that, at least. And there are our previous messages from Wednesday… My face heats slightly, but I continue down, any redness on my cheeks fading as I read what it says.
My hand comes up to cover my gasp and I race through the rest of the texts, disoriented. “I don’t understand. I didn’t say any of this.” I force myself to swallow against the pain in the back of my throat. “I wouldneversay this.”
I move in front of him, forcing him to meet my eye. Now that the anger’s gone, there’s only hurt left on his face, my stomach dropping in response.
“Austin, you have to believe me. That’s the opposite of how I feel. I want something serious with you more than anything.” I swallow again, the good parts of those texts giving me hope. He said I’m the most important person in the world to him. That he’d do anything to make this work.
That he loves me.
A range of emotions crosses his face before longing overtakes the others. “I want to believe you,” he whispers.
“You can. I promise. We’ll get to the bottom of this together.”
His gaze searches mine for what seems like forever, my stomach on the edge of tipping over, and he finally nods, my knees weakening as relief floods through me.
I reach for him, standing on tiptoes to hug him tight, and his arms encircle my waist, supporting me.
Tears sting at the corner of my eyes, but for the first time in days, they’re ones of happiness now. “I’ve missed you. I had no idea why you wouldn’t speak to me.”
“I thought it’s what you wanted. And I was hurting. You… you broke my heart. Or, I thought you did.”
I run a comforting hand over his back, wishing I could erase all the heartache from the last few days. “Those things you wrote…”
He stiffens for a moment before I soothe away the tightness. “Yeah?”
“I feel the same way. That there’s this connection between us. You’re the most important person in the world to me, too.”
He squeezes me tighter, releasing a breath. “Tessa…” There’s enough emotion in that one word to fill a book. “I—”
A group of guys enter the hallway, loud in the echoey space, and make their way into the locker room. None of them are paying attention to us, but it makes me aware that we’re locked in an embrace with a crowd of people just beyond us.
“Maybe this should wait till later,” he murmurs.
“Right. Sorry.” I let go of him, but he doesn’t move away.
“There’s one thing I need to do now, though.” His hand slides in my hair, cradling my head as he kisses me briefly, but deeply.
I smile up at him, and he returns it, a weight lifted off him compared to how he’s been the past few days. “I love when you kiss me.”
He leans down, whispering in that lovely, deep voice, “Can I kiss you more tonight?”
A tingle races down my spine, thoughts competing for space in my head about where exactly he can kiss me. There’s no need to censor my words with him anymore, though. “I want you to kiss me everywhere.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE
TESSA
Austin groans,burying his face in the crook of my neck, and I take a moment to delight in this closeness. What would have happened if we hadn’t cleared this up?
“How did those texts come from my number?”
He moves back, sobering. “I have no idea. I guess a hacker could do it? I don’t know how any of that works.”
