Em: Will debrief tomorrow.
Em: Don’t text me 900 times, I have meetings.
Theo: proud of you / also terrified for you / also proud
Daniel: CONGRATULATIONS ON FINALLY KISSING YOUR FUTURE HUSBAND
Penny: Noah Abbott is HOT AF
Theo: Penny, stop it. No.
Daniel: But she’s right, Theo. Let the girl live.
Penny: I’m almost sixteen, Theo. I like boys.
Theo: ENOUGH. STOP IT.
Audrey: Theo, we’ll remove you from the chat if you can’t handle it. Em, drink water, take ibuprofen, don’t overthink it (lol you will)
They weren’t wrong.
I set the phone down, flipped off the light, and crawled into bed. Sassy curled against my legs with a contented little sigh.
In the dark, the condo was quiet. I could hear the distant murmur of the TV in the living room, then the soft click as it switched off. Footsteps padded down the hall. A pause outside my door.
For a second, I held my breath, wondering if he’d knock.
He didn’t.
Somehow, that felt like the right call. We’d already done enough for one night.
I rolled onto my side, staring at the faint glow of the streetlight sneaking through the blinds.
Tomorrow, everything could fall apart.
Tomorrow, we could talk and realize the timing was wrong.
Tomorrow, I could decide this was too risky.
But tonight?
Tonight, I let myself smile into my pillow and replay that first wild, messy, perfect kiss. And for the first time in a very long time, the future didn’t look terrifying. It looked a little bit like hope.
16
NOAH
My feet hit the floor before my alarm went off. Hurricanes of butterflies exploded in my gut, the whooshing and excitement of last night not dimming one bit. Em kissed me. Em wantedme.The forever-friend. I laughed, unable to believe what happened. I’d acted like a jealous ass, and she kissed me. Fuck.
I scrubbed my hand over my face, replaying the moment her lips touched mine and how the heat of her mouth sent shudders through me. My blood heated thinking about it, and every part of me ached for her all over again. But for every hope, there was a pit of nerves clawing their way up my spine.
She could regret it. Hell, maybe she did already.
And I wouldn’t blame her. I had Miles. I had the lawsuit. I had parents who saw my life as one long mistake. They’d always been critical of me.Are you sure you want to play football? That’s not a real career. Why don’t you date? Something wrong with you?Their words circled my head like a warning:You can’t handle a child and the team.
Maybe that was why Nat chose me. They were negative.
I blew out a breath and forced myself to stand up straighter. No spiraling. Not yet. Last night had happened. She’d kissed me back—really kissed me—and that meant something. I had to show her I wasn’t going to disappear this time. I’d do this right. Slow. Whatever pace made her feel safe.
