Page 190 of Chasing Headlines

A gentle hum buzzed in the stillness. The heat of his skin burned against my palms. I held him close as I kissed him back—my hands trembling, but no longer hesitant. His arms around me, strong and fixed. We weren't stumbling into something already heated and rushed. This was, instead, the very beginning.

The kiss was over too soon, but he didn't pull away. “Promise me.” His deep voice and hot breath against my ear set swarms of tiny electric moths fluttering about, bumping into one another, igniting heated sparks, and bright, colorful flares. A few even found their way deep into my core.

I wanted to ask him what, why, a hundred other things. But when I was being honest, I already knew everything I needed to. He didn't wait for the answer. He knew what I would say, had come to trust my heart more than my voice or my brain—the two things that always got me into trouble. But what was in my heart was true and right and would always be worth fighting for. “Breslin.” I breathed his name against his cheek.

He didn't stir. I huffed and rolled my eyes. “You're a hot, baseball-loving pain in my ass, too, you know.” I tried to settle him, gently, back against his pillows. “You're also freakishly heavy.” I grumbled as I spilled forward, bumping my headagainst his nightstand in my attempt not to land on him. “Ow.” I rubbed my forehead and sat beside him.

I soothed short wisps of hair over his ear. He sighed in his sleep.

The winds had changed, my heart had already fallen. But it wasn't in pieces.

“I want 'us' to be real, too.”

Epilogue - a month later

Olivia POV

Raleigh, NC

Iglanced at the suitcase on the edge of my bed, packed and ready to go. My throat ached and I'd spent the morning with ice on my eyes, eyedrops, I'd even dug up some caffeine-laden eye cream, probably left behind by one of Furston's former overnight guests.

“Another holiday not worth remembering.”

Dad had seemed happy to see me, at first. Then it was the impromptu meetings and the job, and finally the lectures. Because no month-long holiday away from school should be without a good old-fashioned lecture about Furston's ambitions, his status, and the ever-so-enlightening assertions that he'd “put his goals on hold” to raise me after my mother left.

We needed to appear like a picture-perfect family, and I was supposed to demonstrate that I was some fucking antiquated idea of a proper young lady. I was positive at any minute someone would show up with a corset and a parasol. Maybe I should take to wearing bonnets?

And the worst was being basically exiled. My, uh, well, Breslin was still in Vanquer with Dotty, Deputy Reegan and therest of the Reegan family. They'd all be driving up to OKC at the end of the week for the hearing on Breslin’s community service. I'd wanted to ask dear old Dad if he minded, if I could go.

I wanted to tell him about Breslin. Or at least ask Furston about his involvement in Breslin's legal troubles. But I couldn't talk to either of them . . . about either of them. And Curt, I didn't know what was up with him, but I'd barely seen him since I got home. And when I did, he'd basically told me that everything Dad said or did was right and I needed to learn to be a team player.

Hilda and I still weren't speaking. It was just me and this large, empty house, while Dad and Curt were off doing baseball things. Together.

“As usual.” Nothing had changed. And it never would . . . unless I changed it for myself. I glanced at the IML Major League scout application I’d printed out. I’d have to mail it this week, and being selected was probably a longshot. But just filling it out felt like a declaration of independence.

My phone lit up.

Breslin: Hey, you there?

I smiled because it was the compromise we'd agreed on. He liked to use a phone as a phone, and I preferred text. But today, I wished I could transport through the wifi signal to Nowheresville, TX and give him a hug.

My phone buzzed to life. I answered and the breathless sound of his voice held its own husky melody. “Hey. Finally got a break. Thought I'd call.”

“A break, huh?”

“Reegan's kids. They've got energy Jimenez can't rival. And it's like seventy degrees here, so it's too nice to be stuck inside.”His deep voice was exactly what I needed.Hewas exactly what I needed. “How's everything there?”

“Here? Oh, it's cold.”Empty. Lonely. I miss you.

“Cold, huh?” His voice dipped and took on a playful tone. “I could fix that for you.”

“Oh, you could, huh?” I took a breath. My stomach spun in a dizzy circle. “So charitable these days. Is this going to be your new community service ploy?”

“I'd definitely be . . . dedicated. Finish my hours in a week.”

I laughed. A text came through. I glanced at it.

Breslin: No privacy here.