Page 101 of Fourth Wheel
For the first time in five weeks, I feel like I can finally exhale.
“I’ve always been all in with you.”
Chapter 54
Dempsey
Shegothomelaterthan expected last night, then she had an eight o’clock class this morning. I had already scheduled a lunch meeting with an old friend from school, and I didn’t want to cancel on what sounded like a promising lead.
Now I’m sitting in a coffee shop near campus, next to a park called Strawberry Creek Park. Ironic, but serendipitous in a way.
I don’t know why the hell we agreed to meet up in public. We’ve been talking nonstop since she FaceTimed me from my brother’s phone two days ago. There’s no question about how this will go, but I still have the distinct urge to throw up as I wring my hands and wait for her to arrive.
She wants this. She knows I want this, too. I have exactly zero reasons to be as worked up as I am about seeing her right now.
But still.
I send my brother a text to pass the time. He replies with a picture of himself sitting in the living room, his workbook splayed open on his bare chest. I smirk at his ridiculous commitment to those workbooks. But before I can type out a smart-ass response, I sense her.
My head snaps up. Our eyes lock. And I swear to God, in that moment, I feel everything around me slot into place.
She’s glowing.
She’s ethereal.
Holy hell, does California look good on my girl.
This is where she’s supposed to be. It just took me a while to realize I’m supposed to be here, too.
She rushes to me as I rise up from the booth I’ve claimed and meet her halfway.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” she gushes as she throws her arms around my neck and pulls me tight against her.
I let myself savor this moment. The smell of her. The truth to how right she feels in my arms. How the fuck did I ever think I could live without her? Just hugging her centers my mind and helps me feel more like who I’m supposed to be.
“I can’t believe you went to Hampton,” I murmur as I smooth a hand down her hair. I let my other hand skim along her low back, the urge to touch her everywhere drowning out all reasonable thoughts.
“Let’s sit down,” she insists as she reluctantly peels herself out of my arms. She must sense that I would have spent all night awkwardly standing in the middle of this coffee shop holding her if I could. I miss her touch the moment we part.
We take our seats, and I slide over the dirty chai I ordered when we arrived. She smirks at me as she takes a sip, then gives up a little moan when the piping-hot liquid hits her lips.
“This place is my favorite,” she confesses. “My apartment’s two blocks from here.”
She takes another sip of her drink, then gets quiet, eyeing me like she has a million questions but doesn’t know where to start. I reach across the table and take her hand, then wait for her to take the lead.
“What are we doing, Dem?” she asks, her voice soft and timid.
I inhale and sit up straighter, preparing to deliver the speech I’ve rehearsed in my head for the last two weeks.
“I don’t know. For the first time in a long time, I don’t have a plan. I’m so out of my depth here, princess. But I need a fresh start. And I’d like to make it out here, with you. Or, at least in close proximity to you, if you’re really willing to go all in.”
She raises an eyebrow and opens her mouth, but I don’t give her a chance to sass back.
“I should never have let you leave the way you did. I should have realized when you were still mine just how good we had it. But I let my concern for my brother cloud my judgment. I let my love for him suffocate every other emotion I dared to feel.”
I run my thumb over her knuckles in a way that I hope comes off as reassuring. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.
“Fielding’s the reason I’m here. He’s the one who told me to come. I’m so sorry I had to wait for him, of all people, to knock some sense into me… but you’re where I’m supposed to be. What I said to you a few days ago is true—I’m committed to making this work. I’m all in with you.”
