Page 109 of See You at the Finish Line

He laughs at my joke. “Hopefully it’ll save us a few years of pining after each other.”

“You’ve been pining after me?”

He looks me square in the face. “You’re telling me you weren’t pining?”

“I asked you first!”

“Yes, Paige. I’ve been pining for you for two years. I actually stalked you for a while and was really irritated when you stopped posting to social media.”

“I couldn’t handle being on it after my mom died. Everything felt so fake and forced.”

His eyes soften and he strokes my face. “I know that now. At the time I thought it was all about me.”

I appreciate him lightening the mood. I love my mom, but I don’t want her to put a damper on this post-sex high we’ve got going on.

“I was pining for you too, underneath the anger and hurt when you didn’t text me back.”

He opens his mouth to protest, but I put my finger to his lips before he can say anything.

“I know it was the wrong number, but I didn’t know that then.”

His eyes turn wicked as he gently bites my finger, drawing it into his mouth. And just like that, I’m ready to go again. Whenever he is. It feels rude to ask, though, since it’s only been like ten minutes.

I clear my throat. “What did you ask me?”

He laughs, releasing my finger and pulling me closer so my head can rest on his chest.

“Youwere asking me ‘What now?’”

“And you never answered,” I say, squeezing him. He kisses the top of my head like it’s the most natural thing to do. It all feels so easy.

“I don’t want to scare you away,” he says, holding me tighter.

“You have me naked in your bed, it’ll take me a while to leave if you get too scary. I’m sure you can backtrack if you need to.”

He laughs and takes a deep breath. “Open communication?” he asks.

“Open communication.”

“I bought this house this year. I was lying when I told myself I was buying it only for myself. In full, scary stalker honesty, I boughtit for you—for us. I’m pretty sure if you hadn’t shown up, I would have found you. I want you to move in with me, Paige.”

His confessions settle over my heart like a soothing balm. After all this time, it wasn’t just me. I wasn’t the crazy attached woman who met a man and became obsessed after two days. It wasn’t the race adrenaline that pulled me towards him.

If he can be honest, then so can I. “I moved here hoping to find you,” I whisper.

“Did you know I worked with the Whales?”

I push myself up and brace my hands on his chest, propping my head up so I can look at him. His blue eyes pierce my soul.

“That’s the crazy thing—I didn’t. I was too scared to admit that I wanted to find you. I didn’t even look you up. Not once. If I’d known where you were, if I’d seen any of your social media, I’d have come after you. And then I took a job at the place you work without knowing. How crazy is that?”

“Fate-level crazy,” he says, looking at me with awe, his thumb brushing my bottom lip. “I couldn’t stay away from your social media while you were posting. I tortured myself with every bit of information I could find about you, and it drove me insane when you stopped. That’s when I decided to try to get you out of my head and ended up buying us a house instead.”

“So we’re both crazy,” I confirm.

“I like this kind of crazy. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before.”

“Me neither.”

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