Page 15 of I Choose You

“We had our Pets to Pups event, so I got home later than normal. Had clean-up duty.” She points at Luke, her voice a whisper. “He’s practically engulfed.” Another of her quiet giggles rings in my ears, echoing long after she quiets down.

“Soon, it’ll be Layla who will sit and deal with it,” I mutter. “Then we’ll be off the hook.” Halfway through the next inning, her head finds my chest. I bask in the way she fits perfectly against me.

I’m going to miss this. Miss her.

Luke’s advice comes back tenfold, buzzing around my head like a pesky fly.

I wish I could have both.

I wish I could convince her to move away with me. It’d be hard having everything here and only me in Texas, but it’d be a new norm after a while. Before long, I concoct a plan to get us out of having to watch another minute of this bloodbath of a game that is nine-two. I make sure not to catch Luke’s attention when I murmur, “I’m going to pretend my phone is ringing from my room. Pretend to go to the bathroom or something.”

She gives me a nod of understanding as I rise. Luke doesn’t bat a lash when I leave, and I wait a solid five minutes before Kenzie casts a shadow on the carpet from the doorjamb.

“Took you long enough,” I say, scooting to lean my head on the headboard.

I find myself checking her out when she walks in. My eyes roam over her, from her chest to the curve of her hips, but I don’t think she notices. The thought puts a tiny crack in my armor as she hops on the bed and crawls to the spot beside me.

She scoffs as if I’m being ridiculous. “It was only two minutes.”

“Felt like ten.”

She adjusts to lay on her side, then props her head in her hand and exhales. I catch the glassiness in her hazel eyes from the one beer she drank, knowing that it was probably her max. She never handled alcohol well. Most of the time, she passes out way before the normal person after consuming it. It’s like it flips a switch in her that pulls fatigue forward. So, it’s no surprise that it’s lingering beneath her dark lashes less than an hour later.

Our gazes fixate on one another so intently I’m surprised sparks don’t light in the little space between us. The barely audible hum she releases before she murmurs only adds to it. “I’m going to miss the heck out of you when you leave.”

I want to close the gap between us, to seal my lips over hers and pretend like Texas isn’t a blip on the radar. Instead, I let a bald-faced lie leave my lips in an effort to protect her for a minute longer. “I’m still mulling it over.”

She squints at me. “I can tell when you’re lying,” she says, her tone turning somber before flipping to her back and staring at the ceiling.

“Remember when your parents split, and you went to your dad’s that first weekend?”

“That’s random, but what about it?”

I glance over, and like Luke with his sports, I become immersed. Damn it, why do her lips have to look so enticing? “That was the worst weekend of my life.” Her forehead crinkles, and I lay my hands on my stomach. Matching her, I shift to view the ceiling. “We were inseparable back then. The three of us spent every minute together.”

“Not true,” she interrupts. “They placed you and me in different homerooms our ninth-grade year.”

“Yeah, but that was years later.”

“Still counts.”

I can recall it like it was yesterday, the overwhelming feeling of missing her still present in my chest. It was the first and only weekend she spent with her father after her parent’s divorce. “We didn’t see each other for days. They were the longest of my life. I threatened Luke to never say a word about it, but I hid in my room the entire weekend.”

She glances over her shoulder with a curious twinkle in her eye. “You did not.”

“I swore I was sick. Thought it was the flu or something, but then my mom was adamant that I only felt bad because you weren’t around. Told me when you’re attached to someone like I am with you, all it takes is a day for the loneliness to creep in.” My pulse rages at my honesty, my blood pumping in and out faster than normal. I understand how this may sound, but there’s a point here. “She was right and wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“The loneliness came hours later, not days. As soon as your dad’s car drove away, I felt helpless. I was too young to understand it back then.” If Luke heard this, he’d call me a sap, but I need her to realize that everything will be okay before I tell her.

“You’re my best friend, Kenz. Despite what you may think, nothing will ever make me want to walk away from that. If I don’t have you in my life, I don’t make it in all the other areas. When you finally came back that weekend, I grasped how special you are. You’re my foundation. If I take you out of the picture, there is no picture. My house isn’t strong unless you’re in it with me.”

My heart lurches to break free from my chest at the same time her breath catches. “Mase…I…”

I flip to my side, resting my head in my hand as she did minutes ago. No matter what gets in our way, I’ll always hold a spot in my heart for her, and I need her to understand that if she doesn’t already. I reach out and brush my hand against her cheek, turning her to face me. “You don’t need to say a thing.” My thumb rubs her skin, my fingers sneaking to the back of her neck. “I’m telling you this because I don’t want you to forget how much you mean to me when circumstance and distance try to convince you otherwise.”

My breathing does little to calm the hammering of blood pumping through my body. I might as well be confessing my love to her. My throat dries and turns scratchy. My hands rub against the fabric of the sweats I changed into when I got home earlier, and for a second, I hold my breath while praying that nothing fucking changes. “I’m accepting the promotion. I’m going to Texas.”

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