I turn and go to head out the back when I see the sign.
The for sale sign.
“No,” I cry, rushing towards it.
He’s not here. He’s selling his house and he’s not here. He has no phone. He could be anywhere. I get back into my car and I speed the entire way to Kelly’s cabin. When he sees me arrive, he comes running out the front.
“Where is he, Kelly?” I say, tears in my eyes.
“I don’t know, Avery.”
“Stop lying to me,” I scream. “Where is he?”
He sighs and lowers his head. “He moved interstate.”
My knees buckle and I grip hold of the railing to keep myself up.
“Where?”
“I don’t know!”
“Please, Kelly,” I sob. “I love him. Do you understand that at all?”
Kelly closes his eyes. “He has a race—two days from now.”
He rattles off the location and gives me a pained expression. “Before you go, before you run down there without thinking, make sure you know this is what you want, Avery. He’s hurting too; it’s not just about you. Think it through.”
I nod and turn, running back to my car.
I have thought this through. I’ve thought it through since the day I laid eyes on Nathaniel Alexander.
He is my ever after. Maybe not my happily, but he’s certainly my forever.
CHAPTER 37
AVERY
My knees tremble as I watch the race, watching Nate sliding around on his bike, effortlessly, carelessly. My heart aches in my chest, because this is the championship. This is the win or lose moment for him. So far he’s been incredible, but that could change; it could change at any second. I clutch my purse and I keep my eyes trained on him, willing anything, everything, to give him a chance.
During half time, I don’t move. I just watch people around me disappear and come back with food and drink. Nate is in the middle of an open field, speaking with reporters and journalists. When the race starts back up again I step closer, edging towards the railing. I reach it and wrap my fingers around the white bars, staring and praying for the man out there.
That’s when he turns and his eyes scan the crowd, one hand raised. They all cheer and scream. His eyes turn to me and I slink back, but I know the moment he sees me. I know because his hand drops and he stops moving. I swallow and step back into the crowd, feeling my heart pounding. Oh God. He wasn’t meant to see me, not now, not until after the race. I close my eyes as I hear the roaring of his bike, and I only dare to open them when he begins to move.
He barely makes it around once before ending up in a stack.
Oh no.
I step towards the bars again. My eyes burn with unshed tears as I watch him climb onto his bike. He looks over again, and when he sees me, he raises his hand just slightly. Slowly, using every muscle in my body as if my hand weighs a hundred pounds, I return the wave. He needs to know I’m there, needs to know I will always be there.
He gets back into the race, soaring over the jumps and sliding around the corners with ease. The crowd goes wild, screaming and chanting his name as he skids around a corner, his boot going out to ease him around. There are a solid ten riders in the race, and even though he came off his bike, he’s catching up quickly. As the final lap descends, my heart stops beating.
“Go!” I scream. “Go!”
He catches up to the group, weaving in and out as they reach another bend. One man loses his balance and comes rolling off his bike, causing another two to lose theirs and do the same. Nate is behind the bike currently in first place, and he begins edging to the side to get around him. The crowd begins to chant and my chest tightens as the finish line approaches.
At the last minute Nate charges forward, his bike gliding effortlessly. He ducks around the man in first place and slides over the finish line only seconds before him. But he did it; he did it. I scream and jump up and down, clapping and crying at the same time.
“Nathaniel Alexander, winner!” someone yells.
Tears blur my vision and my heart swells with joy and pride as I watch him hold his trophy in the air, yelling loudly. Then I do something crazy: I leap over the railings and onto the track. A few security guards see me but I’m a fast runner, and I’m too far ahead of them. I run around the track, heading straight towards Nate. He sees me and a smile, the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on him, fills his face.
Tears rush from the corners of my eyes and trickle off into the breeze as I run. The moment I reach Nate, I lunge towards him and wrap my arms around his hips. His arms crush me to him and he stumbles backwards a few steps. I have a stranglehold around my neck and my tears can’t be controlled as I lean back and I kiss him, I kiss his cheeks and his jaw, his nose and his mouth.
“Seems someone is happy he won.” The announcer laughs and the crowd cheers loudly.
I pull back, cupping Nate’s face in my hands.
“Av—” he begins, but I cut him off.
“There was no other man. Kelly lied. He lied to protect you and me. I came home and I heard your messages, and Nate, it broke my heart. I have so many things to say, so much to express but it won’t change anything. All that matters is that right now, in this moment, I am giving myself to you. I love you, Nathaniel Alexander. That will never change.”
A huge grin appears on his face and his hand goes up and slides into my hair. He jerks me forward and crushes my mouth with his. The crowd goes into a frenzy, cheering and chanting his name, and he kisses me—really kisses me. There is no wrong or right, no lies, no betrayal: this kiss is our first kiss. Our first real, no-strings-attached, no hearts-breaking kiss.