Page 66 of The Charm of You

She has no idea how special she is, does she? How is it possible?

I angle my body to face her, hoisting my leg up onto the bridge and mimicking her position. I tug her hand away from her face and hold it in my lap as I clear the lump in my throat, my blood still hot with endorphins like I just landed back on the ground after skydiving. “Judd was telling the truth today.”

She lifts her head.

“I did have a crush on you in high school, even though you never knew I existed. Now that is the very definition of pathetic.” I let out my own somber laugh.

“Austin…”

“You were crying once.” I force a swallow.

Fuck. I’m really doing this, aren’t I? Just putting it all out there. Here goes nothing…

“At a football game, I found you crying under the bleachers, and you broke my fucking heart, Homecoming Queen.”

A shaky exhale leaves her parted lips.

I smooth the wild hair away from her face and tuck the silky strands behind her shoulder. “You missed your dad. I could relate too, but I just… I didn’t know what to say or how to help, not that I had the chance, anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your friends dragged you off, and on the way, after you thanked me, you told me?—”

“You’re going down,” she finishes. “I thought you were from the opposing school. Oh my God. That was you?”

I give her a tight-lipped smile, even though she can’t really see it.

She shifts toward me until she’s practically sitting on me, and she clings pleadingly to my hands. “Austin, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to say.”

“I’m not bringing this up to make you feel bad. I just want the chance now to say what I didn’t tell you back then.” My voice is hoarse as I tell her, “You don’t have anything to prove to anyone. You’re strong, Caroline, whether you have a job or your face on a billboard or diamond shoes on your feet. None of that glamorous nonsense is why you’re so… extraordinary. It’s definitely not why I had a crush on you.”

“Really?” she whispers above the evening song of the swaying trees. With the train long gone, we’re left with the crickets again—and my thundering heart.

“You’re strong,” I assert more firmly. “And resilient and vibrant in a way I found profoundly annoying a few days ago.”

This earns me a light giggle, and the tightness in my chest loosens. “Profoundly annoying, huh?”

“Damn right.” I release a chuckle of my own and quickly sober. “But in all honesty, it’s not so bad, after all.”

“Are you flirting with me, Austin Kyle?” Caroline’s eyes glimmer under the moonlight.

“I thought that was obvious, but if you have to ask, then I’m doing a terrible job.”

Her whisper drops an octave when she says, “If you’re so terrible, then why is it working?”

I grip the back of her neck, where I fist the loose hair there, and I tug her toward me until I capture her lips in a maniacal kiss.

That’s what I feel like when this gorgeous woman is in my arms—a fucking crazy man.

I don’t even deserve her, but hell if I’m not going to kiss her for as long as she’ll let me.

She draws my bottom lip between her teeth and practically feasts, extracting a gurgled sound from deep in my throat.

I tighten my hold in her hair as I kiss the corner of her mouth, then slide my lips over the narrow curve of her jaw and down her neck.

My lungs work overtime for my next breath like I’m under water, gasping for air.

I scoop her sweater to the side and place a heated kiss to her collarbone. I’ve just placed a second kiss right next to it when she pulls back.

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