Page 129 of Burnout
As soon as we part, I’m surrounded by my teammates. We hug and high-five, and when the judges come back with a perfect ten score, we scream in delight.
Tristan approaches me with a look that’s somewhere between smug and proud. “Nice work, Ollie.”
“What was that?” I ask, holding a hand up to my ear.
He rolls his eyes. “Way to not back down. You’re back.”
“I was never gone.” I bump my fist against his and then take off into the crowd toward Knox. He hasn’t moved yet, so I race up the bleachers to him.
Hope attacks me first, hugging me while she bounces around. “A perfect ten?! I can’t believe it. You are so cool.”
“Thanks. I’m glad you made it.” I glance over at Knox. I don’t think I’ve ever seen his smile so big.
“Congratulations. That was…I’m speechless.”
“A rare thing for sure.” Brogan steps closer. “You were dynamite.”
“I had a little inspiration,” I say to him, and cut my gaze back to Knox.
“I’m glad you found it inspiring because I was freaking out. What kind of idiot tells a girl he loves her for the first time before she competes in front of a big crowd?” His expression goes sheepish.
“My idiot.” I wrap my arms around his neck. “I love you too.”
I’m about to kiss him when I hear Brogan say, “Wait? You already told her? What happened to the plan? He had a whole speech prepared for after you won.”
Knox’s lips twitch with a smirk.
I arch a brow at him. “I can’t wait to hear it.”
“Later,” he says and then crashes his mouth down onto mine.
FORTY-FIVE
“Is that Knox?”Hope nods toward my phone when she walks over to the beam where I’m sitting, taking a break and catching up with my boyfriend.
Boyfriend. Knox is myboyfriend. Weird. I haven’t tried out the word yet, but I like it.
It’s been two weeks since he told me he loved me and then had to leave for New Mexico. Two weeks of daily phone calls, hundreds of texts, and missing him like crazy.
I hold out the phone for Hope to see Knox.
“Hi!” She gives him a huge smile and waves. “When are you coming back? Avery is all mopey without you.”
“I am not,” I say a little too defensively. Fine. I was at first. It’s weird not having him around all the time. There are so many things that happen every day that I want to share with him and at first, I felt weird about spamming him with messages about mundane topics I was sure he could care less about. But when I told Knox that, he scoffed. “I want to know it all, princess,” he said.
And so our epic text conversations began. Does he need to know what I ate for lunch today or vice versa? No, but somehow sharing little bits of our days makes the distance feel smaller.
“I’m hoping I can come home this weekend or next,” he tells her. “How was your meet last weekend?”
She takes my phone and gives him the rundown, leaving no details out. I smile as I listen to them. I’m pretty sure she misses him almost as much as I do.
When there’s a pause in the conversation, I motion for my phone back.
“Wait,” she says to me and then to Knox, “I need your advice on something.”
“Shoot.”
I lean over to see him on the screen. He called from the gym where he trains and he’s sitting on the floor, still shirtless and sweaty.
