I nod. “I think so.”
“Would you like to share?” she asks with a chuckle.
“Um, the thing is . . .” I scratch my head, trying to push away the nerves forming a fist in my stomach.Why is this so fucking hard?“It’s just that I’ve had some major revelations these past months, and after contemplating them, I have some pretty big news.”
Tatum expels a long breath, like she’s been holding it inside this whole time. “Actually, I’m glad, because I’m in the same boat. I have some big news to share, too.”
I pause, my gaze raking over her face as if I can read the news in her expression. Wasn’t Ethan the big news? What else could she possibly have to tell me?
A creeping sensation crawls up my spine, as I ask, “You do?”
“I do.” She nods, chewing on her lower lip, a sign that she’s nervous about whatever it is she wants to say.
The fist in my stomach tightens.
“But you go first,” she says with a wave of a hand. “What I’m about to tell you might change things with us, and I want to hear your big news before that happens.”
Change things with us? Holy hell, what if dating douchebag Ethan made her realize that she’s actually in love with me, too?
My pulse speeds up, and I lick my lips, suddenly eager to hear what she has to say. “No. You go first.”
She shakes her head. “My news can wait.”
“So can mine.”Coward.“Really, ladies first.”
“You sure?” she asks, once again worrying her lip.
“Absolutely.” My gaze drifts to her mouth—to the soft, plump lips I’ve dreamed about kissing hundreds of thousands of times.
“Okay.” She inhales, toying with the silver rings she always wears on her fingers. “The thing is . . . I’m thinking about transferring to Michigan State to be with Ethan.”
She . . . what?
All the blood drains from my face so fast the room spins.
My hands tremble as I grip my knees in an effort to steady myself. “What?” The word comes out strangled, barely a whisper.
“I know it sounds crazy,” she rushes on, misreading my shock for concern rather than what it really is—cold, hard devastation. “But we’ve been talking about it all summer, and it just . . . it feels right. You know I’ve never had a serious boyfriend, but things with Ethan are different. He’s really serious about me.”
“And you . . . you’re . . .” I can’t even finish the sentence but the thought rages in my head,Serious about him?
“I think I might be falling for him, Brandon. Like, really falling.”
Each word is a knife to my chest.
I grip the water bottle in my hands so tight the plastic crackles. She can’t be serious. She can’t possibly be thinking about transferring to another school and away from me after only three fucking months of seeing him.
“Come on,” I laugh, but it comes out strangled. “Tate, you can’t possibly leave. It’s only been three months,” I say, voicing my fear out loud.
“I know, but long distance is hard, and even though we’re only an hour apart, with classes and him starting his internship at his father’s company next semester, finding time to see him will be tough, and Ethanreallywants me closer.”
He does, does he? Well, too fucking bad.
I nod like I get it, even though I don’t.
“But you’re going to wait until next year, right? I mean, classes have resumed everywhere. You can’t just transfer mid-semester.”
“True. But Icantransfer this winter, once the semester wraps up.”
