His warm breath brushed my lips. “Hops?”
I almost nodded.
I almost nodded and leaned in and kissed him until my lungs fluttered for the final time. I almost did. After all, there was nothing holding us back.
Except.
“I know we still have a lot to talk about,” I murmured, turning so that he cupped my face in his hand, “but I need to tell you something.”
Tag nodded. “Okay.”
“I’m not pretending,” I said. “I know everything has changed, but at the same time, nothing has—at least for me.” I swallowed hard. “I’m in love with you, Tag. Truly and totally and still falling in love with you.”
With the faint curve of a smile, Tag pulled me into his arms and onto the windowsill. And he held me; he held me until our heartbeats synchronized. “We do have stuff to talk about,” he eventually said. “I have a lot of questions, but…” He took a breath. “I’m not pretending either. Not even close.” He pressed his forehead to mine. “I’m in love with you too. I love you and only you, Hopscotch. You’re it. No matter what’s happened…” His voice caught. “You’ve always been the one.”
My eyes pooled and tears soon slid down my cheeks. Tag wiped them away, his thumbprint an invisible tattoo on my skin. “It’s all my fault,” I whispered. “We wasted so much time.”
“But something tells me the greatest is yet to come,” he said, then cradled me closer and murmured in my ear, “and that we’ll make it count.”
TWENTY-FIVE
My mom and I ate breakfast at the Hub on Monday morning. She was tired but hoping to get wired, since this was the last week of classes. Seniors were celebrating; our plan was to graduate on Saturday and leave campus as soon as possible for grad parties, but the underclassmen would stay behind and endure several days of exams. I knew my mom was mentally prepping for intense consultation meetings along with a few nightly course review sessions. “This is unacceptable,” Josh said when he stopped by our table to confiscate the Red Bull my mom had just popped. “It’s not even eight, Leda.”
She groaned. “Caffeine, Josh. Ineedcaffeine.”
“Then I’ll get you some coffee.”
“I hate coffee.”
Josh folded his arms across his chest, brows furrowing. “Really? You do? Because in all the years I’ve known you, I don’t recall youevermentioning—”
“Okay, tea,” she cut in impatiently. “Black tea with a splash of milk.”
A smile curled on Josh’s lips before he bent down to kiss the top of my mom’s head. “Any sugar?”
My mom answered by grabbing his sleeve and pulling him in for a real kiss. A handful of guys whooped and whistled from their corner booth while Pravika shouted, “Please get married!”
Already goin’ to the chapel!I thought to myself, suddenly wishing they would announce the big news to Ames. It didn’t matter if I was graduating, if this was “my year.” I wanted my mom and Josh to openly celebrate their engagement. Nothing would make me happier.
Although at present, I was pretty happy.
Reallyhappy.
“Hey!” I called to seemingly no one in particular when I arrived at the auditorium for our morning school meeting. It was the final one of the year, meaning it was the final one of my Ames career.
“Hello there!” Tag called back. He was standing with Alex under one of the building’s white columns, but then he stepped out of the shade and into the sunshine and smiled.
My stomach somersaulted. If I had wings, I would spread them wide and soar over to him. But instead, wedges weighed me down to the ground, so I could only move so fast. Tag, though, had a much easier time closing the distance between us in his desert boots. Flowers grew in my chest when he swept me up his arms and spun me around before blissfully kissing me. We had Alex and an audience, but I barely noticed.Hello,love, I thought as I laughed against his lips and kissed him back.I’ve missed you.
Our relationship had blossomed again, even after all of yesterday’s heartbreaking honesty. Alex had made himself scarce so Tag and I could talk about everything. I’d perched on his windowsill while he’d dragged his desk chair across the room to sit with me. Stevie had tried to snuggle up with him, but he handed her to me so he could pull my dangling legs onto his lap. His hands on my bare skin made my mind go hazy. Tag’s affection—Christ. I had to blink several times to collect myself, and only after did we make eye contact. “What happened, Hopscotch?” he asked. “What happened to us? I know bits and pieces came out when we were at the boathouse, but I want to put the puzzle together.” He traced a slow circle on my knee. “Why did we end?”
My pulse quickened. I’d suspected the question was inevitable, but it was still so daunting that I waited several heartbeats before responding. “I felt you pulling away,” I said softly.
Tag sighed. “But I felt you pushing me away.”
“I think both our perspectives are truthful,” I told him. “Although I can only speak from mine, just like you can speak from only yours.”
Tag offered me his hand, and I threaded our fingers together. A silent signal that said neither of us was going anywhere. “Keep going,” he said. “I’m listening.”
