What If You & Me (Say Everything #2) - Roni Loren Page 0,103
prom dance was worth it. You were worth the wait.”
He closed his eyes, and she could feel him take a deep breath. When he opened them again, he leaned down and kissed her. Not like the light brush of lips from earlier. This was a kiss. Soft and slow, his hands on her face and her palms sliding down to his chest. They were still moving to the music but not leaving their spot on the dance floor.
She lost herself to the feel of him, the music fading, and all her senses homing in on their kiss. She forgot they were in a crowd, on a dance floor, that her friends were here somewhere. She forgot everything.
But too soon, Hill broke away from the kiss and stepped back. The song rushed back into her ears. A lyric about the world being on fire and it being more than the person could handle. She expected to find Hill smiling or maybe a little embarrassed at the public display. But instead, his expression was stark, his eyes impossible to read.
Dread snaked through her. “Hey, you okay?”
The song was too loud. Hill looked away. “I’m fine. I need a break.”
Something about his tone set off her alarm bells. “Want to step outside and get some air?”
He wouldn’t look at her. “Yeah. Let’s do that.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Hey,” Andi said to her friends when she and Hill walked back to the table. “We’ll be right back. We’re going to get a little fresh air.”
Eliza fanned herself and gave them a knowing grin. “Yeah, I can see why.”
Hill’s heartbeat was in his ears, panic digging its claws into him. You were worth the wait.
Before Hill realized what was happening, Andi had grabbed her purse and was leading them along the edge of the dance floor and out into the humid night air. The door clicked shut behind them, leaving them on a quiet street, a line of parked cars their only company. They walked a few more steps and around the side of the building to the parking lot, shielded from anyone who may go in or out of the venue.
Andi turned to him before he could get a word out. “You look like you saw a ghost. What happened in there?”
“Andi…” He didn’t want to do this.
Had to do this.
“What?” she said, standing in front of him, searching his face. “Tell me. I can feel something’s going on with you.”
He stared at her, everything welling up to the surface, all the things he’d been trying to keep down punching through. He leaned back against the brick wall of the building, dipping his head and closing his eyes.
“Tell me,” she repeated softly, her hand going to his bicep.
Honesty. He’d promised her honesty. It was all he could give her right now.
He lifted his head. “I’m falling in love with you.”
Andi’s eyes widened and her lips parted, her bright-red lipstick making the expression even more dramatic. She blinked. “You’re…”
He let out a ragged breath. “I knew it the second I stepped out onstage tonight and saw you in the audience. I didn’t just feel happy to see you. I felt…” He searched for the right words. “Lit up inside. Like, ‘Oh, there she is. I’ve been waiting for her.’ I tried to shake it off. But just now…when we kissed…”
Andi stared at him in wonder, and her blue eyes turned shiny with tears. She grabbed his hands. “Hill…”
He shook his head before she could say anything. “But I can’t do this.”
A line appeared between her brows, her fingers cold against his. “Do what?”
“I meant what I said about being the practice guy,” he said, the words like knives in his throat. “How I feel about you doesn’t change that.”
“Of course it does,” she said, exasperation in her voice. “Hill, don’t be ridiculous. I already told you I wanted to date you, that I’ve developed feelings for you. And you think I didn’t feel something with that kiss? Knowing you’re feeling things back…” She squeezed his hands. “That’s… I want that. I want to be in a relationship with you.”
He swallowed past the pain in his throat. What she was offering him was like the ripest, brightest fruit on the tree, but he couldn’t grab it. He knew better. “Andi, I can’t. I can’t be the default guy or someone’s comfort-blanket choice again. What happened with Christina…” He released her hands. “It ripped me apart.”