Total pages in book: 12
Estimated words: 11057 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 55(@200wpm)___ 44(@250wpm)___ 37(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 11057 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 55(@200wpm)___ 44(@250wpm)___ 37(@300wpm)
“I’m a senior but on a full ride so I’m still in the dorms with a lot of people younger than me.” She shrugs like it’s not a big deal. “I don’t have much longer, so it’s fine.”
The way she says she’s fine sounds like she’s anything but. She’s also making the same face she had when she got off the phone earlier.
“What happened with the fire last night?” Emma asks, cutting off my train of thought and clearly trying to deflect from what’s going on with her.
“The club will be closed for a few weeks while they repair the damage, but luckily no one was hurt.” I lean in close and take her hands with mine. “Sorry we had to end our time so quickly.”
She bites her bottom lip, and it’s cute how she’s trying to hide it.
“Now tell me what the phone call was about.” Her eyes snap to mine, and I give her my best cocky grin. “You’re not wiggling out of it so easily.”
“You won’t let it go.” She sighs, and I thread my fingers with hers.
“When it comes to what I want? Not a chance, baby.”
“It was about my student visa, that’s all.”
“You’re graduating,” I confirm, and she nods. “So I’m guessing it expires.”
“Yep.” The one word is filled with resignation and annoyance.
“And you can’t get an extension?”
She shakes her head. “I tried, and it was denied. So now I have to start making plans to go back.”
“Where’s home?”
The laugh she lets out is humorless. “That’s the problem. There’s no home beyond here. Once I leave campus, it’s just the world, and I have no idea what I’m going to do.”
“You don’t have any family?”
“It’s just me and my dancing skills.” She tries to make a joke, but I see the pain she’s trying to mask.
“I don’t have any family either.” Her dark eyes meet mine, and it’s like a shot through my chest. “Felipe is like a brother to me, and his family is great, but at the end of the day, it’s just me.”
“Sometimes it’s nice not having to worry about anyone else.”
“But that means there’s no one to lean on.” The way she’s looking at me is like she’s seeing me for the first time.
“Exactly.”
“I meant what I said last night, Emma. I’ve never longed for a family or to have something more. I’ve always just made the best of my situation and moved forward. Dwelling on what I don’t have doesn’t change things.” I swallow hard as I lock eyes with her. “But seeing you last night changed a whole hell of a lot. In fact, it changed everything.”
“It doesn’t matter.” She tries to take her hands from mine, but I don’t let them go. “Beckett, it’s not like this can go anywhere. I have to leave the country soon, and I’m not coming back.”
The thought of never seeing her again is too painful to even imagine, so I push the thought away.
“This was nice, and it’s been fun talking to you, but—”
“Don’t finish that sentence,” I warn.
“But it’s not happening.” She does it anyway, purposely being defiant. God, how she makes my body heat.
“You say that like it’s inevitable, when in reality what’s inevitable is you and me, Emma. Don’t pretend like you don’t feel this.” I bring her hand across the table and put it over my heart. “It didn’t start beating until last night when I saw you.”
“Beckett.” She says my name so softly, but there’s a sadness to it.
“No, don’t do that. Don’t push me away because you think there’s no way I can keep you.”
“I just don’t want to get my heart broken. Is that really so hard to believe?” She pulls her hand away from my chest, and I let her do it, but don’t let go of her hand. “I do feel something, okay?” she finally admits. “I just don’t have the luxury of seeing this through. Not when I don’t have any other choice.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.”
“We’re meeting at a really shitty time.” Emma looks out the window as I squeeze her fingers. “I can’t stay here anymore, and being with you would only make it harder to go. I don’t have a choice, so I won’t make this harder on the both of us.”
A long moment of silence passes while I let her take a breath. Then I lay down all my cards.
“I want you to answer one question, Emma,” I say, and she finally looks away from the window to meet my eyes. “If your situation was different, if you didn’t have to leave, would you be mine?”
She doesn’t blink as her dark eyes bore into mine, and then ever so slightly, she nods. I wait because I want to hear her say the words and after a heartbeat, she does.
“If I was staying, yes.”