I heard Ashton’s breath stutter.
“Madden!” I practically shouted. “What did Blue do?”
He grinned. “Why don’t you ask him yourself?” He nodded behind me.
I spun.
And there he was.
Blue Walker Bishop.
All six feet and two and a quarter inches of his beautiful body. The dimple was fully out, a roguish grin splitting his handsome face. His outfit made my heart dip. He had on my favorite jeans, but his sweatshirt was a maroon and orange Virginia Tech hoodie. He leaned against the doorway all smooth, like he hadn’t just rocked my world.
“What do you think?” he asked with a click of his tongue. “Are you ready to sport the ugliest school colors of all time with me? Go to a university where no one actually knows what the mascot is?”
“Dude.” Ashton was on his feet, hands on his hips. “A Hokie is a turkey bird. Plain and simple.”
Blue held his hands up like he was mistaken and pushed off from the wall. He slapped a rolled-up maroon clothing item against his thigh, his mouth curved in a devious grin. “Exchange that sweatshirt every night after classes?” He tossed the object to me and I caught it with ease. I let it unroll so I could take a look. It was the same hoodie as his, but the back said Team Blupree. He turned so I could see that his said the same. He’d had them made. I looked back at my sweatshirt, plastered with the most beautiful words, in the most beautiful school colors of all time.
I hugged it and smiled, so stupid-happy. We were going to be together. In the same place, at the same time.
Finally.
“We’ll get matching diplomas. What do you say?” Blue asked. “Does that sound like a better plan than being friends for four years, missing each other every day, pretending like we’re fine when we’re anything but?”
“Yeah,” I said, barely able to form words. Then I slipped the hoodie over my head, my heart bursting to full. Once my head was out, I opened my eyes to see Blue standing right in front of me.
He brushed his thumb over my left cheekbone. “Thank you,” he said in a hush.
I closed the rest of the distance, the toes of our shoes kissing. Then I looked up into his wonderful face. “For what?”
His head tilted, and he stared deep into my eyes. “For making me so miserable that I had to figure out a way to be with you.” His hands were on my hips. Then he repeated my words from that first night in the hospital. “I missed you, Anna Dupree. So much.”
I slid my hands into his hair and tipped his forehead down to mine. “I missed you too. So much.” Then I pushed up on my tiptoes and crashed my mouth into his. On contact, my knees gave out, and I fell into him, making us stumble. But all those muscles stopped us pretty quickly. And then we were back to all the important stuff. Smiling, laughing, and exchanging that glorious sweatshirt.
The room erupted in hoots and catcalling but I didn’t care. For once in my freaking life, I was getting every single thing I wanted. I deserved this. He deserved this.
After twenty seconds of heavenly, hot, heady bliss, Jonah hollered, “You’re welcome.” It came out a little grumpy but with a chuckle.
My arms still around the only boy I’d ever really loved, I glanced over at the boy who’d started me on this quest. The boy whose heart I’d broken. He had Brooklyn snuggled happily in his lap.
“Thank you,” I said to him. “Thank you for making me listen to my heart.”
His face went serious but his arms slid around Brooklyn’s waist. He nodded and gave me a soft smile. I didn’t know what it had taken him to give me that smile, but I hoped he knew how grateful I was. How grateful I would always be.
I looked back at Blue. “Are you sure about this?”
“Too late. I already signed official-looking paperwork. Pretty sure I’m locked in.” He grinned. But then his eyes smoldered. “Never been more sure of anything in my life. If I’ve learned anything over the last five years, it’s that I belong wherever you are.”
“Awww,” Tally sighed.
Brooklyn raised the volume on the TV and nodded for Blue and me to have our moment in private.
I stared into my favorite pair of eyes. “You’re going to lose money though, aren’t you? And you might not get picked in the draft in four years.”
“I’m not losing money.” Then he put his mouth next to my ear. “But I would’ve come for nothing. Don’t tell anyone.” I leaned into his cheek, his warm breath filling me with life.
“I won’t,” I whispered. “But how’d you get them to get you that much money?” We both knew VT was nowhere near Knoxville-level good. “What did you have to promise them?”
