“Come here you.” Nix pulled me into his chest. “I really don’t want to say goodbye to you yet.”
“And you think I do?” I gazed up at him, anticipation bubbling inside me.
“I don’t know, B. Sometimes I look at you and know exactly where your head’s at. But other times, I don’t have a clue what you’re thinking.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It keeps me on my toes.” He kissed the end of my nose. “I know shit is complicated, but it won’t always be like this, you’ll see. I spoke to Coach Farringdon today.”
“You didn’t say anything.”
“Because I still don’t know if I can do it.”
“Do what?”
“Go after it. A scholarship, I mean.”
“You can, Nix.” I laid my hand against his cheek. “I believe in you.”
I always had. But he’d never believed in himself.
“I told him I’d think about it.”
“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know. We haven’t exactly talked about the future.”
The word made my heart stutter in my chest.
Future.
Did he mean our future?
I think he did.
But he was right, we hadn’t talked about it, not when there were so many other things to talk about first.
“I want you to chase your dreams, Nix. Always.”
“And what about your dreams, B? They’re worth chasing too.”
“I…” I didn’t have dreams. Not anymore. Not when just getting through the day sometimes felt like wading through mud or clawing my way out of an endless pit.
“Yo, Nix,” Zane called out of the window. “Let’s go.”
Nix dropped his head to mine, a low groan reverberating through his chest. “Friday. Only three more days until Friday night.” He hugged me tight, dropping a kiss on the end of my nose. I tilted my face toward him, and our lips grazed.
It would have been so easy for him to lose control, to pin me up against Celeste’s car and kiss me hard and without restraint. But he didn’t.
“Go, before I change my mind about letting you leave.” He brushed my lips again. “Text me when you get back.”
“I will.” I inhaled deeply. Inhaled him. It hurt my already weary heart to leave him and return to Old Darling Hill, but I had to.
“Friday, Birdie,” he said. “I want to feel your eyes on me when we crush DA, and then I want to feel your lips on me when we celebrate.”
His heated words licked my skin.
“Friday,” I whispered, slowly pulling out of his arms.