Page 67 of Catch Me

I visibly relax. He places his cocoa down on the coffee table and then takes mine from me and puts it down next to his. “Our lawyer tell us that we’re, at the very least, going to get a settlement from what’s happened with the Pontine’s.”

“Really?”

He nods. “It’s probably going to be a lot.”

“That’s great, Reid.” I bite my lip, then stare at him open-mouthed. “You know what that means? Even if you don’t get the All-State Scholarship, which you will, but even if you don’t, you can go to Warner’s. They’ve already recruited you.” My heart fills. This is everything to Reid.

“That’s not all,” he says, taking my hand.

“Okay…”

“My parents said since this is all happening because of what someone did to me, I can do whatever I want with the settlement. Of course, school is number one. But I was also thinking…” His lips pull up, but he suddenly turns very serious. “I want to use some of the money to rent an apartment off campus at Warner’s, and I want you to move in there with me.”

I blink at him. I can’t say I’ve never thought about how much I already want to live with Reid. We’re with each other all the time. Any spare moment. I had only ventured to guess that once we got to Warner’s, we would have to stay in each other’s dorm rooms if we wanted to spend time with one another, but this? This is something I thought we’d have to wait years for. “That would be amazing,” I say simply.

“So, you’ll move in with me?” he asks.

“God, yes,” I tell him. “Of course. Were you really worried I’d say no?”

“No,” he says, taking my face in his hands. He moves a stray piece of hair out of my eyes. “Only because I see the same feelings I have for you reflected back at me.”

And there’s my big, burly football player being all sentimental again.

Reid Parker is the only one who could’ve brought me back from my grief over Brady. He’s the only one who could’ve pushed me to bring my life back around to where it should’ve been headed. If not for myself, then for the life I want to live with him.

“I guess this is a good time to tell you that I killed the PSAT’s. Even beat Theo Laughlin.”

“Poor Theo,” Reid says while dragging me onto his lap. “He doesn’t realize he never had a chance.” He holds my hips, smiling at me. “I knew you could do it, Briar. Brady’s cheering you on from up there.”

“He’s cheeringbothof us on,” I say, correcting him.

That’s something I wholeheartedly believe. A notion I’ll treasure for the rest of my life.

Correction: The rest of my life with Reid Parker.

The End

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