Page 72 of See You at the Finish Line

“Glad you remembered this time. Now get out.”

I walk like a robot, and as soon as I’m over the threshold, she slams it shut. I hear the sound of the lock and the deadbolt clicking into place and rest my forehead against the door.

Ugh.

“Paige,” I say in a loud voice, hoping she’s still there. “Damn it, Paige, I’m sorry.” Silence greets me. So I talk to the door instead. If anything, it’s good practice for whenever I finally get up the nerve to be honest. I take a deep breath.

“I panicked. That day you showed up. I panicked. You were the last person I expected to see, and my brain completely shut off. I was an asshole. I didn’t forget your name. I never could. It doesn’t matter that it’s been two years—it could be ten years or twenty years, and I would still be able to remember everything about you and that race. I’ll be ninety-five years old, living in a nursing home, and I’ll still remember you.”

The answering silence feels loaded. I can sense her there, so I keep going. “I’ve been looking for you. Everywhere I go, I look for your face in the crowd, hoping to catch just one more glimpse so I know you’re real—that I didn’t imagine you. I’ve spent two years looking for you.” I inhale all the regret and exhale the words I should have said three months ago. Hell, what I should have said two years ago. “I’m so sorry, Paige,” I whisper, waiting a few more seconds before turning to walk down her hallway.

I freeze at the sound of the door unlocking and the deadbolt sliding. When she opens the door, I turn to face her, not daring to breathe in even an ounce of hope.

She steps out and leans on the doorframe, arms folded again, a hint of vulnerability back on her face. She takes my breath away. Some things about her are still different, but that sliver of openness, the way she’s looking at me, it’s like no time has passed since we met.

“Took you long enough.”

Adam is frozen inthe hallway, hands clenched at his sides. He doesn’t know what to do. Neither do I, but my body moved before I could stop it and opened the door, his words making their way into my walled-off heart.

“What?” he breathes.

“I’m not stupid, I figured that’s what happened. Actually, Leah was the one who suggested it after she got sick of me going on and on about it. She said maybe you were shocked and didn’t know what to do. It makes sense—I was surprised to see you, and I don’t know what I would have done if it had been the other way around. I probably wouldn’t have pretended to forget you, though. That was really stupid. But I get it. I mean, it sucked and it hurt, I can’t lie about that, but I understand and I’m glad to see—”

“Paige.” He cuts me off, his mouth twitching. “You’re rambling.” There’s humour in his voice and a touch of relief. His enormous body unfreezes as he stalks towards me, taking up all the space in the doorway.

I crane my neck to look up at him, his piercing blue gaze capturing mine and holding me hostage. I swallow and his eyes release mine, following the movement of my throat, catching on my lips.

Out of nowhere, my giant-ass dog slams into me from behind in an attempt to escape through the open door. My body hurls into the solid mass of muscle in front of me and warm strong arms that should not feel as familiar as they do envelop me, breaking my fall.

“Now I see why you’re so clumsy,” he says, his breath tickling my ear as he sticks his leg out to block Q from escaping. I breathe in his scent of sunlight and my brain can’t handle the overload. I lean into his arms as he tightens his hold.

Q won’t let me have this moment, though—she tries to get through on the other side, but Adam is there too. He releases me and I have to fight the urge to protest. He leans down to take Q’s face in his hands.

“I could kiss you right now,” he says to my dog.

To my dog. Not to me, I remind myself. There will be no kissing of any kind. It’s forbidden. My thighs clench together. Uh-oh. There are other reasons we’d never work.

He didn’t text me. And he thinks I’m the wrong choice. Maybe I misunderstood that as well? Ugh.

Q is having none of it and tries to launch herself through the door.

“Q, stop,” I order, but she’s not listening. It’s time for her walk and she knows it. She keeps trying to get past Adam but instead, he scoops her into his arms and carries her inside. She hasn’t beencarried like that since she was a puppy and looks just as surprised as I am. She’s 110 pounds and Adam scooped her up like a bag of flour.

His muscles ripple under his T-shirt and I’m officially going to need to change my underwear. I was not expecting to be this turned on and all I can picture is myself in his arms as he carries me like a damn Viking from my favourite fantasy romance series, taking me to his furs to have his way with me.

He places Q down on the floor. I use my last brain cell not occupied by him to turn and shut the door.

The energy in the room is different now. Palpable. It practically pulses in his body, and I see it in his eyes when he straightens up to face me. Five minutes ago I could have skinned him alive. Apparently, it only takes a couple words I’ve been dying to hear to meltme into a pile of goo. Or more accurately, make my lady bits soaking wet.

If only he had texted me back, I might have memorized every inch of his skin by now.

“I’m really sorry, Paige,” he says quietly and just like that, I’m done for.

“Why did you come here, Adam?” I manage to get out, my voice low and husky. His eyes darken.

“What do you mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean.”

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