Page 58 of Campus Crush
Sam beamed. “Perfect! It’s settled then.” She stood up and grabbed her purse. “Tonight was fun. We should do this again sometime.”
“Definitely,” Drew agreed, a little too quickly. I narrowed my eyes at him, but he just smiled innocently.
I noticed Gordy was also glaring at him and that gave me pause. Why did Gordy care? I knew why I didn’t wantDrew to make a move on her—because the last thing I needed was for one of my best friends to break Abby’s best friend’s heart—but why would he?
After Sam left, we stayed for another half hour or so before deciding to call it a night. As we walked out to the parking lot, Drew pulled me aside.
“You’re welcome, by the way,” he said smugly.
“For what, exactly? Publicly humiliating me?”
“For giving you the perfect opportunity to show her how you feel.” He grinned. “And don’t pretend you’re mad. I saw your face when she took your hand.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, well, next time maybe just give me a heads-up?”
“Where’s the fun in that?” He clapped me on the shoulder. “Go get her, Candy Kane.”
I rolled my eyes at the nickname but headed toward Abby, who was waiting by my truck. The guys had all conveniently decided to take an Uber so they could check out another party on campus.
“Ready?” I asked, unlocking the doors.
She nodded, sliding into the passenger seat. “That was…unexpected.”
I laughed as I started the engine. “Which part? The Taylor Swift serenade or the obvious setup by our friends?”
“Both,” she admitted with a small smile. “But it was fun. I’m glad you guys were able to come tonight.”
“Me too,” I said softly.
The ride back to her place was quiet at first, the kind of silence that hummed with unspoken things. I didn’t want to ruin it by rushing, but I also couldn’t take another night of wondering where we stood.
She’d smiled at me and leaned into me, and it had made me feel like maybe I hadn’t broken things beyond repair.
And now that we were almost to her apartment, I was worried about when I’d get to see her again.
“I’ve missed you,” she said quietly, before I could speak. When I glanced over at her, her hands were folded in her lap, but her eyes were on me. “Not just Bear. Or Foster. Both.You.”
My chest tightened. A part of me had feared she’d miss who I represented as Bear more thanme.“I missed you too. Every damn day.”
I wished we were already at her apartment so I could look at her more instead of having to watch the road. But maybe it was the darkness in the cab of my truck and knowing that I couldn’t see her that allowed her to open up to me.
“I was hurt at first.” Her voice trembled, and she stared down at her hands. “It felt like you didn’t trust me. Like I’d been made a fool of.”
I started to speak, but she cut me off gently. “The more I thought about it…the more I realized you were right.”
My grip tightened on the wheel. “What do you mean?”
“If you’d told me who you were back when you first figured it out, I would’ve pushed you away,” she said quietly. “I would’ve panicked. Convinced myself it was all some cruel joke or twisted plan. I would’ve cut you off. I would’ve hurt us both. Hell, I’ve kind of done that anyway.” Her voice cracked a little, and I reached for her hand without thinking.
It felt like another victory when she didn’t pull away.
“You gave me space to figure it out,” she said. “You let me get to know you—not just as Bear—butyou. And now that I have…”
I pulled into a parking space in front of her building and she turned fully toward me, her hand curling around mineand her thumb brushing over my knuckles in a way that had pleasure shooting through my nerve endings.
“I want you. Both versions. All of it. The guy who makes dad jokes in Discord and the one who sings Taylor Swift in front of a bar full of people just to make me smile.”
My breath left me in a rush, like she’d reached into my chest and knocked all the air out.
