Page 21 of Blocked Score

Yesterday, I could’ve sworn I saw Caleb.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted someone who looked so much like him, a block away from Demi’s place. But when I did a double take, he was gone.

For the dozenth time, I push the thought away. If it really was Caleb, I’m sure I’d have heard from him by now.

I approach my window and look down at Lane walking away on the sidewalk. The bird’s eye view of his full blonde head and his broad shoulders has a buzzing feeling tingling between my thighs, even though we just wore each other out.

If I didn’t know that this fling of ours had a hard end date and that that date was coming up way sooner than later, I know I’d find myself falling for Lane. Falling fast. And hard.

But throughout the day, when it’s hard to think of anything else but Lane until I see him again, and when I light up from the bottom of my feet to the tips of my fingers after he plants a chaste kiss on my lips when I do later on …

I wonder if maybe I already have.

10

LANE

Acouple weeks ago, I told myself that I was content with just enjoying the time I have with Scarlett while it lasts.

I lied.

Maybe I was telling myself the truth at the time.

At that point, I already knew I felt more chemistry with Scarlett than I have with any girl I’ve met. I already knew that I was more attracted to her than I’ve ever been to anyone else.

But I didn’t know that soon I’d fall for her so damn hard that my heart would hum in my chest every time I see her.

That just walking next to her on a sunny day would soon make me feel fifty feet tall, invincible, like I was king of the fucking world. That pressing my lips to hers would send a thrill throttling through my bloodstream more intense than even my greatest victories on the ice.

I think back to when we met on the flight here, when I thought how crazy it would be to say I’m in love with a girl I hadn’t even known for four hours.

But is four weeks enough?

Scarlett and I are sitting on the grass at Millennium Park. The sun is setting, painting the sky a rich, glowing orange. Theheat of the day is seeping away, mellowed by a soothing breeze. The atmosphere buzzes with conversation, activity, life.

And when Scarlett’s back nuzzles against my chest, a spark of certainty kindles in my heart.

Four weeks is long enough.

I don’t know if Scarlett feels the same way. I don’t know if this is growing into something more than a summer fling for her, too.

But it’s not like I have all the time in the world to find out. She’s leaving in a week, and I’ll be flying out a couple days behind her.

So, I come right out with it.

“We should keep in touch,” I say.

She turns her head to me, surprise dancing in her eyes. My heart twists when I see her lips tilt upward. “Really?”

“Yeah, really. And I don’t just mean sending each other texts now and then. I can drive down to Massachusetts to visit some weekends. You can come up to Brumehill to visit. We’ll make it work.”

We’ll make it work. My own words echo in my ears.

“Make it work?” Scarlett latches onto those three words, too, repeating them. But I catch the hopeful lilt in her voice. It emboldens me.

“Yeah. This.Us. I don’t want this to just be some summer fling that we move on from and forget once we’re back to our regular lives.” A charged breath escapes me. I’m steaming forward like a freight train, when Scarlett and I haven’t even talked about what happens between us after we leave Chicago. “Sorry, I don’t even know what you’re thinking, and we only have a week left here …”

“I’m thinking the same thing,” she says directly, her eyes latched to mine.

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