Page 22 of Walkoff Wedding

“Yeah, it is. But honestly, I’m really fucking glad. Are you…?”

Shyly, I chew the corner of my lip and nod. “Yeah.”

Without a doubt, yes. Even if I’m having the hardest time rationalizing the insane twist that’s been thrown our way.

“Some might call this fate, ya know?” The corner of his lip tugs up into a teasing grin, and I can’t help but smile as he references one of our many conversations from the past. One I could never forget. Just the way I could never forget him, even though I tried.

“I mean, to be fair, you did put up flyers around the entire school, including the art department, so there was a pretty large probability that I was going to see it.”

I watch as the dimple in his cheek pops when he laughs and shakes his head, his golden hair falling across his forehead. Honestly, I’m not sure what I thought meeting him would be like. I’d imagined a hundred different scenarios, but… it kind of feels like I’m meeting an old friend. While my stomach is still twisted in knots of nerves, a larger part of me feels comfortable around him in a way I didn’t expect to. A sense of ease washes over me.

My throat bobs roughly as I drag the worn toe of my loafer along the concrete, my gaze lowered to the scuffed leather.

“Wanna sit with me?” He gestures to the wrought iron bench near us, and I nod.

I try to ignore the way my shoulder brushes against the hard muscles of his bicep as we walk to the bench, and I sit down beside him.

Instead, I focus on the way that my heart is still thrashing in my chest. I can’t believe that I’m sitting here with… Grant. My Jockboy.

The faint rumble of thunder echoes in the distance, and a flash of lightning deep within the clouds catches my gaze. I’ve been so nervous about this meeting that I haven’t paid attention to much else. Now, I can feel the light spray of rain in the air as it caresses my cheeks.

“I love thunderstorms,” Grant says, his eyes trained on the dark clouds. “When I was little, my mom would always get on to me for going outside to the porch and watching it piss rain. She was convinced that I’d get swept away by a tornado or something. Didn’t stop me though. I just kept going back.”

“I remember you telling me about your mom. It’s just you and her, right?”

He nods, his throat bobbing as he swallows, then drags his piercing gaze to me. “Yeah, my dad split when I was a toddler. It was always just the two of us. I gave that woman ten kinds of hell growing up.”

“Something tells me you probably did.” Teasingly, I bump my shoulder against his, and the corner of his lip lifts in a grin.

“Can I say something? Honestly?”

“Of course,” I murmur.

“I’ve fucking missed you, Addie. I never stopped thinking about you,” he rasps, the deep timbre of his voice settling around my heart with each syllable. “Even when I probably should’ve… I couldn’t.”

Hearing him say it out loud makes my chest feel warm, my limbs feel heavy with relief, knowing that the way I felt about our friendship wasn’t just one-sided.

“I know. Me too,” I say earnestly. “I’m sorry I pulled away. It’s just… things are complicated, Grant. In my life. More complicated than you can imagine. I know that might sound like an excuse, but it’s the truth.”

The words feel heavy on my tongue as I speak. I hated that I pulled away from him when things became too much, but I did it with the best intention, even if the impact wasn’t received that way.

His gaze lingers on mine, a beat of silence passing between us, and I can’t read his expression. I’m scared that it’ll be the reason he decides to leave, and I meant it when I said that I wouldn’t blame him.

I can’t imagine how it would’ve felt had he done the same thing to me.

Finally, he speaks, low and husky. “It’s okay. I’m sorry things are complicated, but I can be there for you, the way I was before. I miss those days, fuck, I do. If you want to tell me about it or even if you don’t, just… please don’t disappear on me again, Addie. Okay?”

I can’t get over how… handsome he is. Just like the night that I met him at the Kappa house, I was taken aback by it. I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen anyone as attractive as Grant, and internally, my stomach is flipping and my mind spinning at the thought of him being Jockboy.

This is the boy that I spent my nights talking to. The boy that I felt more seen by than anyone in my life.

And I’m sitting next to him on this park bench, so close that I can feel the heat of his body on mine.

It’s a surreal feeling.

“Okay,” I whisper shyly, tucking my hair behind my ear. Thankfully, it’s dark enough that he probably can’t see the way that my cheeks heat furiously under his lingering gaze.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who can’t stop staring. He hasn’t taken his eyes off me since he arrived.

---