Page 73 of Wild Hearts

I can’t help the snort of laughter as I hug her back. “I love you, too.”

She takes a step back and wags her finger between me and Brady. “You two would be such a cute couple,” she says, pouting. Tears shine in her eyes as she looks at me. “I really think you should–”

Lachy sweeps in and pulls her away before she can say anything else. “’Night guys,” he calls over his shoulder.

“That was awkward,” Brady mutters under his breath as he rubs the back of his neck.

“I’ll say.” I drop my head, unable to look at him.

I turn and head toward my apartment, Brady falling into step beside me. We’re not touching, but I can feel the heat radiating from his body. The night has cooled, and I shiver in the Autumn breeze.

“What is it with girls not bringing jackets?” Brady smirks, shrugging out of his sweater and passing it to me.

I roll my eyes, refusing to answer his question as I pull it over my head, breathing in his musky scent.

“How are your classes going?” Brady asks.

“Good.” I shrug. “The teaching classes are a bit dry with all the philosophy stuff and we don’t do any placement rounds until next semester, so it’s whatever. But I’m loving my photography elective.”

“That’s good.”

“Yep.”

We walk on, and I wonder what’s going on inside his head, especially after Ivy’s drunken commendation.

Breaking the silence, we both speak at the same time.

“Brady–”

“Rookie–”

We look at each other and laugh.

“You first,” he says.

I take a deep breath. “About what Ivy said before–”

“Don’t worry about it.” He interrupts with a shake of his head. “She’s drunk and I know you just want to be friends.” He nudges me with a grin. “Although if you’re going to tell me you’re still madly in love with me, you know I’d be all in.”

I bite my lip. I want to tell him that I’m jealous as hell every time I see him talk to another girl. I want to tell him that I’m still in love with him, that jealousy fires through me every time I see him with another girl, and that I wish we were still together. But the words refuse to come out. We won’t be able to have what we had before. I’m not the same girl I was last year.

So instead I stay quiet. Friends. The word drops like a led balloon in my stomach. He’s being so nice to me, but he needs to move on. He needs to find someone who can love him the way he deserves.

“That was a joke,” he says when I don’t respond.

“I know,” I murmur.

We turn into my apartment building, crossing the car park in silence.

“Rookie,” he says when I stop at the security door. I turn to face him, and he pulls me in for a hug, wrapping me up in his strong, muscular arms. “I’m always here for you. Whatever you need, whenever you need.” He presses his lips to the top of my head. “I’m always going to care about you. I can’t just switch off my feelings, but I won’t pressure you into anything you don’t want.”

“Thank you,” I whisper into his chest. I’m not even sure it’s loud enough for him to hear. I close my eyes. It feels so good to be in his arms again.

He releases me, stepping back and giving me a small wave. “I’ll see you.” He turns and walks away.

I hesitate for a moment before calling, “Brady, wait.”

He spins slowly, hope flashing in his eyes which absolutely guts me when I tug on the bottom of his sweater. “Here...” I start to pull it off, but he shakes his head with a sad smile.

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