Page 171 of Hometown Halftime

Something inside him visibly unravels before he closes his eyes, like he can’t hold himself together anymore. I grab his face with both hands before I completely lose my nerve.

Because if he says no, I honestly don't know how I'll survive it.

“Just please tell me you still love me,” I say desperately. “And tell me we can make this work.”

Chapter sixty-eight

Riley

Kinsey stands in front of me crying in the middle of my hotel doorway, and I think my heart stopped beating for a second.

Because she’s here.

And suddenly every miserable second without her hits me like a tidal wave. The empty apartment back at school. The tense phone call where both of us pretended we were doing better than we actually were. Waking up every morning and reaching for my phone like a complete idiot just to stare at pictures of her before workouts or class. All of it to try to convince myself football still felt complete without the person I wanted beside me most.

My hands close around her face while I try to calm every emotion flowing through me.

“Fuck yes, Kinsey.” My voice breaks apart on the words. “Fuck.” I laugh shakily because I can barely breathe right now. “Yes. God, yes.”

Relief fills her face as tears trail down her cheeks.

“I love you,” I tell her with all the conviction I have inside me. “Never stopped. Not for one goddamn second.”

She lets out a watery little laugh-sob that nearly destroys me.

Then I press my lips to hers. And Christ, the second her mouth touches mine, every part of me wakes back up.

I pull her against me hard enough that her feet leave the floor while the hotel door swings shut behind us. She grabs fistfuls of my shirt like she’s scared I’ll disappear again.

“You drove six hours?” I ask against her mouth.

“I would’ve driven ten.”

I close my eyes because I know that I’m absolutely going to marry this woman someday. It’s not even a revelation because I think deep down, I knew it the first time I laid eyes on her.

Kinsey giggles when I back her into the room, securing the deadbolt before pulling her against me again.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” I admit against her mouth.

Her blue eyes shimmer with tears. “Well, you got a tattoo of my nickname permanently inked onto your body, so can you blame me? I think we’re both past the point of being unhinged right now.”

A laugh bursts out of me before I kiss her again.

God, I missed her.

Everything after that turns messy and frantic. Our hands are everywhere while clothes get yanked off and neither of us can stop smiling long enough to function properly. Kinsey laughs when I nearly eat shit trying to kick off my sweatpants beside the bed, and the sound is so beautiful after months of only hearing it in my memories.

I drag her down onto the bed with me and then I stop. Now that she’s back in my arms, all I want to do for a moment is look at her. For weeks, I kept telling myself we were doing the right thing, but looking at her right now, I can’t believe I ever let her walk away.

Her hair is messy from the drive and her cheeks are still pink from crying. Her blue eyes are still filled with emotion and mischief.

Mine. Still mine.

Her expression softens the second she catches me staring. I brush my knuckles gently along her cheek, still convinced I’m dreaming this entire moment.

Kinsey chose me.

I kiss her slower this time while easing her carefully beneath me, my hand sliding into her hair as the room gradually quiets around us. The frantic desperation from a few minutes ago fades little by little, giving way to something softer. My hands never stop moving, needing to feel her body against mine.