Gross.
I stare back down at my feet, feeling my phone start to vibrate, so I look at the screen.
“Jesus,” I whisper to myself, seeing a few dozen missed messages.
Did the world catch on fire?
I swipe them open as I lift my head. But the man in front of me has pushed past more people, giving me a clear view of the top.
And that’s when I freeze, my phone just hanging in the air, my brows drawing together. Because, as if I’m moving in slow motion, three familiar faces come into view.
Butterflies rage in my stomach, and I suddenly feel a lump in my throat.
I can’t even blink or breathe.
People in front of me begin to file off the escalator, but all I can feel is my heart skip a beat because Brody, Brooks, and Wells are standing at the top, smiling at me.
I almost knock the two people in front of me down as I rush off, my voice breathless.
“What are you doing here?”
Brooks immediately takes my bag. I hold up my phone to connect the dots between my fragmented thoughts and my mouth.
“Did something happen? There’s a lot of messages.”
Wells grins, shaking his head. “No. But you left us a note, Cherry.”
Brooks chuckles, calling my eyes to his. “Yeah, did you think you were gonna get away with that?”
Get away with it? What is happening?I shake my head, trying to make sense of them standing here. Becausehow are they here?
“So you came to say goodbye to me in person?”
Brody hooks a finger in the belt loop of my jeans, tugging me out of the way so I don’t get toppled by all the people getting off the escalator behind me.
“No,” he says, his eyes on mine. “I said, ‘Don’t leave,’ Margot. And I meant it.”
His words on the boat stand front and center in my mind. I can hear it as if he’s saying them again and again. But I thought that was for…
“Don’t leave. Stay right here.”
Brody swallows, and I watch his Adam’s apple bob before he really makes it hard not to fold when he whispers, “We figured maybe you’d stay if you knew we’d follow.”
I’m trying to process. To catch up and understand. But this feels too unbelievable. They’re here, standing in front of me, asking me to stay with them.
Brooks cocks his head to the side and nabs my attention. I must look unnerved by what’s happening because with that charming grin of his, he says, “This isn’t some kind of declaration of love…”
Wells piggybacks on what Brooks said, “We’re not crazy. Just crazy about you.”
Brody smirks. “And that means we’re not ready for this to end yet.”
I’m surrounded, my eyes volleying between them.
“So what exactly are you asking me?” I say as my heart beats faster because I think I already know.
Wells chuckles. “Give us another week.”
I blink.
