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“Please don’t say it’s not what it looks like.” He bites off the words one at a time and spits them at me. “I know what you look like blissed out and satisfied.”

I flinch and nearly lose my footing. “It wasn’t like that! I-I was thinking about you, and he . . . he caught me off guard!” The words come tumbling out of me like a bad case of verbal diarrhea. “I wasn’t expecting him to kiss me! But you can hardly blame me for Elijah’s misunderstanding. I probably would’ve picked him if you hadn’t come along.”

Jordan steps back from the window, crossing his arms over his bare chest. “Not helping.”

“But I didn’t pick him.” Rain streams down my face, and I duck my head to take a breath, looking up at him through wet lashes. “I picked you. And not that it matters now, but I didn’t kiss him back. A split second after that picture was taken, I shoved him off me and told him he couldn’t do that again.”

He lets his head fall back and closes his eyes, as if sending up a silent prayer.

“Goddamn it, Kennedy.” The hurt in his voice breaks my heart.

“I like it better when you call me princess.”

Releasing a breath, he crouches beside the window. “What are you doing outside my window?”

“Getting wet, mostly.”

His lips twitch until he’s almost smiling. “I see that, but why?”

“Because you needed to hear the truth from me. To hear it from my lips that I don’t want Elijah. Or Grant. Or anyone else. I want . . .” I swallow back the fear of rejection, willing myself to be the brave woman he seems to think I am. “I want you.”

He blows out a heavy breath. “You should’ve told me about the kiss when it happened. Instead you let them blindside me with those photos.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I—God, I didn’t think you’d . . .” I lick the raindrops from my lips, shivering from the cold. “I guess I just didn’t think.”

“You should’ve trusted me.”

“I do trust you. I—” The three little words I’ve been holding back fight their way to the surface, and I swallow them before I blurt something I’m not ready to say.

“The lies . . . the sneaking around. It’s a lot to deal with. I don’t know how much more I can take.”

“Jordan . . .” I scramble for the words to make him understand. “Don’t you see? The competition. The scholarship. None of that matters if I lose you in the process.”

He blinks down at me. “You mean that?”

“Every word.” I close my eyes and hold my breath until my head swims. And then I open them, and for the first time, everything is clear. “I—”

My feet slip on the wet concrete, and Jordan reacts immediately, hooking an arm around my waist and hauling me into his room. Breathing heavily, he sets me on my feet and gazes down at me. I stretch up, chasing his warmth as I press the full length of my body against his.

“I love you, Jordan Keller.”

Time stands still while I wait for him to react. To respond. But a full minute passes before his lips curve into a breathtaking smile. “I love you, too, princess. So much. Even when you make me question my sanity.”

I catch my bottom lip in my teeth and brace myself for the full impact of his frustration.

“When Aunt Jenny showed me those pictures . . .” He rakes his hand through his hair. “I damn near lost my mind.”

“I’m so sorry. I should’ve—”

My breath catches as he swallows my apology, kissing me like it’s the last thing he’ll ever do. As if he might die if he stops. And I melt into him, finding redemption in the way his lips control mine, dragging me under until I forget my own name.

Too soon, he breaks the kiss and brings his forehead to mine. “No more secrets, Kennedy. Promise me.”

“I promise.” Humming out my agreement, I dive in again, fixing my lips to his, greedily taking whatever he’s willing to give. Like him, I’m tired of being buried under all the secrets and lies.

He kisses his way to my ear. “Showing up at my house was a bold move . . . but you forgot the boom box.”

A laugh bursts from my throat, and I coil my fingers around his forearms to keep my knees from buckling. “I risked my life climbing to your window. I think that trumps your precious boom box.”