Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 98134 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98134 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
“Aren’t you going to watch?” he asks as we sway, hardly even matching the upbeat rhythm of the song. It’s like we’re dancing to a song only we can hear, perfectly in tune. I’m mostly just letting his momentum pull me from side to side on the flat bottoms of my sneakers, and it feels like I’m floating.
“Did you really do all this for me?” I ask.
“Maybe it was for both of us.” His perfect eyebrows draw together. “I’ve been afraid to admit to myself that I want this. Afraid admitting it would mean scaring you off the way I scared off Sarah. But then I realized holding all that in was going to mean losing you, too.”
“Somebody hurt you,” I say. “You were afraid it was going to happen again.”
He chuckles. “Yeah. But some people are worth the risk.”
I bite my lip. “You put your trust in me up there. Saying all of that in front of everyone… it made you vulnerable, and I want you to know you never have to be afraid to be vulnerable with me. You gave me a little piece of your heart, and I’m going to cherish it. Okay?”
“If you think that was only a little piece, I think I may have to go ask Caroline for that mic back. I was trying to give you the whole damn thing, Andi.”
I smile, laughing. “Really?”
He looks suddenly serious. “Really. I mean what I said. I don’t care if it’s crazy or too fast or if none of it makes sense. I’m tired of pretending the way I feel should follow any kind of rules. It is what it is, and I know how I feel. That’s why I’ll do whatever it takes to make this work. Following you to New York, traveling as much as I can to see you during the season. Anything.”
I grip the front of his sweater in my hand, squeezing until I feel the hard warmth of his body beneath. “You want to hear something really crazy?”
“Yeah.”
“I just want to be where you are–with you. That’s my dream right now. That’s the thing I care about. These past few weeks have been some of the most incredible weeks of my entire life, and I don’t want it to end. I don’t want us to end.”
“Then we won’t,” he says with a certainty and finality that makes me feel gooey and warm inside.
“Promise?” I ask.
“I promise to care about you way more than sanity should allow–to keep falling for you faster than should be humanly possible, and to enjoy the shit out of pampering you next time you roll your ankle, get a headache, have a bad period, or wake up too cold in the morning.”
I rest my cheek on his chest, smiling. “That sounds amazing.”
The song ends and the next track is All I Want For Christmas is You.
We just shift around a little while longer–him doing the work on his skates and me letting my sneakers glide as I drift across the ice, following the rhythm of his movement. I’m enjoying the sensation of his body against mine and knowing the invisible detonation timer I’ve felt hanging over our heads for weeks now just stopped counting down to doomsday.
“Andi?” he says.
“Yeah?”
“You really don’t want to go to New York for that job? You can tell me if you do. I’ll find a way to make it work.”
“I really don’t. Some people would call it a dream job, but the only dream I care about right now is the one I’ve been living in the last few weeks, and if this is dreaming, I don’t want to wake up.”
We kiss and the fireworks continue to splash and pop overhead, bathing the night in bright colors. The music keeps playing and this place that might be my new home feels alive all around me. I slip my arms around Jesse, pulling my body into his warmth and closing my eyes. I’m smiling, because I don’t know what is ahead of us. All I know is we’re both taking the plunge together.
Being with Jesse feels like the start of a new chapter to the adventure. A new, exciting chapter that I desperately hope will end with a happily ever after.
He looks down at me and I can tell he wants to say something.
“What is it?” I ask.
He hesitates, then shakes his head. “It’s crazy. I’m not going to say it or I’ll scare you off.”
“You couldn’t scare me off, Jesse Prince. Say it.”
The grand finale of the fireworks show is in full swing. Booms sound from farther off in the harbor and the crack and sparkle of pyrotechnics is almost constant. Multi-colored lights flicker across his perfect face as he stares back at me.
“I love you.” He says the words, then lowers his eyes and shakes his head, as if he’s expecting me to laugh at him.