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This doesn't change anything.

We both said it.

But we were both lying.

There's no way two people like us kiss like that and then just forget it happened. Just go back to coexisting in the same city. Playing coy and acting fine.

I just wasn't exactly sure how we were supposed to act. What comes next after that?

Luckily, Jace decided for us.

Or at least I think he did.

After he threw the Gators' third baseman back into the building, he kissed me once more on the lips—and that's the one that got me. The one that convinced me this meant more to him than just another random hook up or some weird form of closure we've both been waiting for.

It was soft. Gentle. The kind that lingers long enough to inhale fully before pulling away again. So, when he told me he was leaving, it didn't hit so hard. And when he mentioned being here, I latched on for dear life.

"I'm gonna go," he said, his knuckles brushing down my cheek.

My stomach dropped to the concrete beneath my chunky heels, but I nodded like I, too, thought about ending the best kiss I've ever had.

"I have a long day tomorrow even though we're off."

The last word stung more than it should—him having the day and still heading home. But I smiled, hoping I wasn't reading too much into it despite the panic threatening to swallow me whole.

"Okay, yeah," I said, trying my best not to lean into his touch. "I should probably get going too. I'm working tomorrow so…"

He pressed his lips together and dropped his arm by his side, and it instantly felt like something I'd never get again. Like a death you don't see coming where the moments together flash before your mind, and all you can picture is what you didn't say—didn't do.

"Wouldn't want to miss your morning run," he said. He held his gaze, his dilated pupils burning through mine. "Right, Lenny?"

"Right," I choked out, barely able to process words let alone a workout plan with the way he was still staring. With my skin still buzzing. With the fear that this was the one and only time I'd get this again still attempting to consume me.

"Yeah." He swallowed hard like he was battling with himself about whether to let the next word fall from his lips. "Same."

Air flushed my lungs as my shoulders dropped from my ears, and the needy spot between my thighs fluttered with an unrelenting hope. "Cool."

"Cool," he repeated nonchalantly—as if I wasn't hanging on to every word he said.

And when he took his first step toward the door, my body was screaming at me to say something—

This has to change things.

That kiss meant everything.

I never stopped loving you.

"Hey, Jace," I called after him before he could leave.

He looked at me over his shoulder, his cheeks still flushed, his lips still calling me, my pulse still beating for him. And only then did I see the pain in his eyes that moments ago must have been masked by something—hunger, desire.

I see the new boy in Mage, alone in his dorm room, with a dream in his heart and a phone in his hand, staring at it like it might ring if he just waits long enough. Begging me to call. Begging me to take the leap.

So, I didn't say any of what was eating at me. Because that moment was more than I deserved already.

"Get some sleep tonight," I settled on.

He huffed out a shallow laugh, then turned around, going inside without another glance back.