Page 120 of Our Secret Moments

“You know we don’t have to hide anymore, right?” Connor says, placing his hands on his hips as he takes a deep breath. “I mean, I love a good workout, but I don’t get what that was for.”

“I just wanted to know if you’d really follow me anywhere just because I told you so,” I say, shrugging as I lean down to type the pin in on the vending machine.

“Of course I would. I’d be a fool not to.”

“I’m starting to think you’re obsessed with me, Connor,” I whisper, turning to him as the machine works its magic.

“We are way beyond obsessed, sweetheart.” His voice is so deep and meaningfulthat I feel it low in my stomach. It sits there, waits, and erupts as I hold his stare. When I hear the soft packet of the chips falling in the machine, I reach down to grab them and hand them to him. He turns it over in his hands. “What’s this for?” he laughs.

“I was meant to get you celebratory chips that time and I didn’t get to,” I whisper, pointing at them. His eyebrows screw together. “What?” I ask. His curiosity is going to kill me. I try to do a nice thing for him and I can tell he just wants to mess with me.

“That was months ago, Cat. You’ve given me a lot better things than a bag of chips since then,” he says, his voice filled with humour.

“Yeah, and I’m giving you these now.”

“Why?” His signature smirk is etched onto his face.

I roll my eyes. “Why, what?”

“Why are you giving me these chips? Why now?”

“Because we’ve had a good week and I’m happy and I want to do something for you,” I mutter angrily. I prod him in the chest and he shakes his head at me.Is he really wanting me to spell it out to him?

“That still doesn’t explain anything, Catherine.”

I roll my head back, groaning. “Can’t you see? It doesn’t matter what we do, or where we go, or what happens, I want to celebrate the small things with you. Because every single moment we share means something to me. Even the small things.Especiallythe small things. When you hold my hand I just want to kiss you for it. When you offer to help me with my hair, I want to spend a whole day curled up in your lap. When you tell me I’m beautiful, or that I’m smart, or that you think I’m perfect in your eyes, I want to shower you with a million gifts and live inside your brain.”

His lips find mine so quickly I hardly get to register it. Our bodies fit together, our hearts beating, our fingers curled in each other's hair. Our tongues meet and I instantly feel lightheaded. He holds onto my face like he doesn’t want to break me. He holds me so tight that I’m not afraid of falling. I’ll keep falling forever if it’s him who catches me.

I pull back. “Did you hear what I said?”

“Every word,” he whispers against my lips, smiling.

“And?”

“And I’m going to continue to prove to you over and over again that I’m exactly the kind of man that deserves someone like you.” He presses his forehead to mine, the chip packet crushed between us. My heartbeat refuses to settle as we bathe in this moment together. “I’m yours forever, Catherine.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

EPILOGUE

5 MONTHS LATER

CONNOR

My hands shake,but I force them to keep moving. “I’m going to give up. It’s not working,” I mutter angrily. This really shouldn’t be so hard. Nothing should be this hard. Ever.

Catherine smooths her hand down my back gently. “You need to calm down, Connie. Just do it gently.”

I suppress the groan that is dying to escape my throat. “I am doing it gently, but it still isn’t working.”

Nora’s voice booms as she walks into the kitchen of our new house off-campus. As soon as sophomore year ended, Wes, Archer and I had an adult conversation about moving out into a bigger house. We’ve all managed to save up enough money to get a decent sized three bedroom not too far from campus. The girls are still living their best lives on campus, but they can’t resist coming over to our new place.

She closes her eyes and covers them with her hand as she uses one hand to search around her. “I swear if you guys are fooling around in here when I open my eyes–”

“Oh my god,” Cat groans, pinning her arms against her chest. “That was one time, and it wasn’t anything that bad.”

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