Page 90 of Breakaway Goal

“Not as long as I have,” she says teasingly after a while.

“Longer,” I protest.

“Nuh-uh,” is her juvenile retort. “I’ve liked you longer.”

“Nuh-uh,” I blare just as childishly, “I’velikedyoulonger.”

She snakes her hands under my armpits and starts to tickle me, making me jolt with shock.

“I’ve liked you longer, admit it!” she demands.

“Never!” I side-step her and wrap my arms around her from behind, lifting her up as she kicks her feet in defiance.

“Put me down!”

“Not until you admit I liked you longer!”

“Put me down or I’ll scream!” she yells, though she’s yelling through peals of laughter.

I bring my mouth next to her ear and whisper roughly, “Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve made you do that.”

My heart feels like it’s floating above the clouds on a sunny spring day. I’ve never been happier. I still don’t know how we’re going to approach Lane about this, but right now, I can’t even summon enough anxiety to worry about the state of my relationship with my lifelong best friend.

Right now, Maddie and I are the only two people in the world.

As we’re laughing and horsing around, playfully arguing over who’s liked each other longest, it occurs to me that I’m using the wrong word.

I don’t like Maddie. I love her.

Maybe I should wait a while to say it. Until this new phase of our relationship is on a more stable footing. But we’ve both felt the same way about each other for years. We know each other in a way no one else does. The times I’ve spent with Maddie are the best times of my life, and there’s zero doubt in my mind about how I feel.

I’ve spent enough time holding back my real feelings from this girl. There’s no good reason to do that for any longer.

I set Maddie down. The lines of laughter slowly relax on our faces as I steady my breath, and seriousness gathers inside me over the words that are on the tip of my tongue.

“Maddie, I love you.”

What’s funny is I’m not even anxious during the small stretch of silence that follows my words. It’s like I can feel the vibration of her heart through the unbreakable thread that tethers it to mine.

“I love you, too, Rhys.”

We kiss again, our lips branding the truth of our words.

“I have really good news to share with you, Maddie,” I say, a wolfish desire sprouting in me.

“What’s that?”

“I have my house to myself until later tonight.”

46

RHYS

Our lips are in a tangle and our hands lost in a frenzy raking over each other’s bodies as we stumble into my bedroom.

Maddie’s lips have lost the pliant passivity that yielded to mine during our first kisses, and now she’s insistent and assertive. As her hands fumble at my belt, she pulls my bottom lip between her teeth and tugs at it, drawing a groan from my mouth that she drinks up.

I step on the back of my heels to pull out of my shoes as I walk Maddie toward my bed. Our clothes fly off in a whirlwind, scattering onto the floor of my room. That floor where I’ve sat so many times zoned out listening to songs that remind me of Maddie and fantasizing about a moment like this.

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