I fastened it in place and waited for him to do the same before starting the car. Neither of us spoke as I pulled out onto the main road and turned in the direction of my house. But instead of stopping in my driveway, I kept going. Maybe if I just drove, he wouldn’t want to talk. When he’d taught me how to drive, he’d always been hesitant to do much more than give pointers, not wanting to distract me.
But with each mile that we rode in silence, his tension only heightened.
“Are you even going to talk to me?” he finally burst out, his frustration making his voice sharper than normal.
I pulled up in front of the playground at the park on the outer edge of town and parked. Dropping my hands into my lap, I sat there, staring straight ahead. “What is there to say?” I asked.
“Fuck, I don’t know. Maybe you could start with why you didn’t tell me that you were going to be coming to New York an entire year earlier than expected.” He took off his seat belt and turned to face me, his bulky body taking up most of the front of the car. “There are things I need to put in place for when you move—”
“I’m not,” I cut him off and finally turned my head to look at him.
His brows pulled together in confusion. “Not what?”
“Moving,” I told him as I met his gaze, refusing to react to the way he flinched at my answer. “I’m not moving to New York. I’ll be staying here and going to Trinity next fall.”
19
Ryan
I sat there, frozen, waiting for her to get to the punch line of the unfunniest joke I’d ever heard.
That was what all this was, just some prank Nova
was playing. Any moment, she would start laughing and explain why she’d thought it would be a good idea to make my heart stop beating with her poor attempt at being humorous.
But there was no sudden outburst of her sweet laughter. Not even a twitch of her lips as she tried to fight a grin. Her tone was matter-of-fact, her gaze verging on blank as she continued to stare at me like I should understand why she was tearing me apart with not only the distance she’d kept between us all day, but by trashing the plans for our future on top of it.
Muttering a curse, I reached over and unclipped her seat belt before lifting her out of her seat and onto my lap. She didn’t struggle, but as soon as her ass touched my legs, I realized my mistake.
Fuck.
The feel of her in my arms, her delicate scent filling my nose, her warmth seeping into my frozen body, was enough to break me. My cock thickened to the point of pain, straining to get to her, and I had to shift her so that she didn’t feel how close to cracking and devouring her I was. One brush of that perfect ass over my length and I knew it would be game over. We were completely alone in the car, no one around for miles, by the looks of the vacant park. It would be so easy to strip her and sink so deep she would never want us to be anything but a part of each other for the rest of our lives.
Gritting my teeth, I cupped the side of her face, trying to focus on what she meant if she wasn’t joking. “Explain.”
“There’s nothing to explain,” she told me with a simple lift of one shoulder. “I’ve decided it is better for everyone that I stay here in Creswell Springs.”
“It’s not fucking better for me!” I exploded, frustration clawing at me. “We have a plan, Nova.”
“What plan?” she demanded, her brows lifted like she didn’t understand what I was talking about. “You mean how I’ve always talked about going to college in New York? Trinity is as good a choice as any East Coast school, Ryan.”
“No. It’s not about college, damn it. This is about our future together.”
Her mouth dropped open, her green eyes like jewels blinking back at me. “Stop it, Ryan,” she snapped after a long, silent moment. Reaching behind her, she opened the door and got out of the car. Unable to stand the physical distance she was putting between us, I jumped out after her and followed as she stomped toward the little pond.
“Stop what?” I yelled, causing her to halt in her tracks.
Nova turned to face me, her hands on her hips, her breaths coming in angry pants that caused her tits to bounce and my mouth to water. “Stop giving me hope when I know there is none. I’ve tried so hard not to let what I feel bleed over into our friendship. But it’s impossible. I can’t pretend anymore. And now…” Her voice drifted off as she lowered her gaze to the ground. “I’m not a robot, okay? As much as I wish I could flip a switch and turn it off, I can’t. I’m only human.”
Were we even having the same conversation?
Not a single word that had left her mouth made sense to me, but the tears I could see glittering in her eyes made my knees weak. “What’s impossible? Tell me, and I’ll make it possible, Nova. Just say it, and it’s yours.”
She closed her eyes. “You—”
My phone ringing from my pants pocket cut her off, and her mouth snapped shut. Cursing, I pulled out the phone and sent the caller to voice mail without looking at the screen. But no sooner did the noise stop than it started again.
Annoyed, I flipped it over and nearly growled when I saw it was my personal assistant. Wondering what she’d fucked up this time, I answered. “What now?”