Page 55 of Cross Check Hearts

Still in a daze, I scoop my bag up off the floor and do my final rounds of the studio, making sure everything is put away, then close and lock up on my way out. Somehow, I’m aware that it takes me way longer than usual to walk back to my apartment, but as I slide the key into the lock on the front door, I slide back into the moment and realize that I don’t remember a single second of the entire walk home. One second, I was stepping away from the studio, and the next I was home.

Inside, I set my bag down on the counter and jump when my phone starts ringing inside it. My heart hammers in my chest as I dig through my bag for my phone because some part of me is sure that it’s Declan calling, but as my fingers find it and flip the screen over, my heart sinks like a stone at the name on the screen.

“Hi, Aaron,” I answer, keeping my voice carefully neutral. I already know why he’s calling, but that doesn’t make this any easier.

“Hey! I’m kind of surprised you picked up. I figured you’d be busy with something.”

“You caught me at the right time. I just got home from the studio. What’s up?”

“Well, since our date ended so abruptly the other night, I was calling to see if you’d want to go out again sometime soon.”

I almost say yes before thinking about it, just like I normally would, but something stops me short. My heart flutters nervously in my chest and my stomach twists just from thinking about shooting him down, but this discomfort is nothing compared to what it would be like to sit through another dinner with him where he talks about nothing other than himself—and talks over me in the process.

“No, I don’t think so,” I say slowly.

“What? Why not?” Disappointment is clear in his voice, along with a hint of shock.

“I just… I don’t think I have the time for a relationship right now between school and everything else I have going on.”

Even as the words leave my mouth, I know they’re a lie… because my mind drifts immediately to Declan.

“Oh. Alright. Well, I guess you have my number if you change your mind. I, uh, I’ll talk to you later,” he says and ends the call without giving me the time to say goodbye. But that’s okay with me. I wasn’t really in the right headspace to talk to him in the first place, and I probably shouldn’t have answered the call.

I stare down at the phone still in my hand for a few seconds, almost unable to believe I told him no, before I set it down on the coffee table by the couch. Even after the terrible dinner I had with Aaron, I still almost crumbled and gave him another chance, but I’m so glad I didn’t.

That night wasn’t a total disaster, though. Because as painful as dinner with Aaron was, spending the rest of the night with Declan was something I won’t forget for a very long time.

I shiver at the memory of the way he kissed me, but I can’t get distracted with that again right now. To take my mind off it, I yank my bag off the counter and start to unpack it, but as I do, my brows furrow.

“What the…?”

I blink as I pull out a cellphone. It can’t be mine because mine is still sitting on the coffee table.

My heart skips a beat.This one must be Declan’s.

When I moved his bag away from mine and spilled his stuff everywhere, his phone must have fallen in my bag without either one of us noticing. And he left so quickly that he still might not even know it’s gone.

My pulse quickens as I stare at the little black device. Without overthinking it, I grab my keys. I need to return this to him—now, not later. And if that means I get to see him one more time tonight, well… I’m not complaining about that either.

I’m halfway to the door, already rehearsing what I’ll say when I find him, when a sharp knock makes me freeze. My heart skips a beat as I pull the door open.

Declan stands on my doorstep, his hair windblown from the motorcycle ride, his rich brown eyes locking onto mine.

“I think you have something of mine,” he begins, nodding toward the phone in my hand. “I realized it was missing when?—”

I don’t let him finish as all the tension I’ve been fighting inside myself crashes through my last defenses.

Instead, I throw my arms around his neck and press my lips to his.

Chapter25

Declan

Hannah’s soft body presses against mine as our tongues explore each other’s mouths, and there’s something in the way she kisses me that makes my blood ignite. We’ve kissed several times now, but never like this. This kiss is laced with a sense of certainty and purpose that makes my heart race.

I wrap my arms around her, walking us the rest of the way into her apartment before kicking the door closed behind us. My phone drops to the carpet as Hannah releases it, but I don’t give a shit about that. I can replace my phone, but there’s not another woman on the planet like her, and I want to make sure she knows that beyond a doubt.

I groan into her mouth, kissing her even deeper, and she arches her back, pushing her body against mine. It drives me fucking crazy, and my hands move instinctively to her legs. I lift her up and pin her against the nearby wall as she wraps her legs around my waist as if we’ve never been apart.

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