They continued to sway to the song, neither of them speaking, letting the lyrics speak for them.
When the song ended, a faster one started, and Ella laughed when Maverick grasped her hands and started spinning her around their makeshift dance floor. They danced the entire hour, alternating between fast and slow songs, taking a break only once to try Mrs. Crites’s homemade chocolate chip cookies.
The bell at the end of the period came too soon for Maverick.
“Maverick,” Ella said, reaching out to take his hand when he went to turn off the music. “Thank you.”
They’d stolen countless kisses in what Maverick now considered their corner of the library—thank God for boring nonfiction books—but he’d initiated them all.
This time, it was Ella who closed the distance between them, giving him the single hottest kiss of his life.
He was breathless when they parted.
“I love you,” he murmured.
It was the first time he’d said those words, and even as he spoke them, he knew it was probably too soon. But holding them in any longer was impossible.
Ella smiled in response. “I love you too,” she said, her cheeks flushing a gorgeous pink.
Maverick laughed with joy, picking her up and spinning her around as she wiggled for freedom, giggling.
“Maverick, we’re going to be late to our next class.”
He shrugged, unconcerned, because he knew there was nothing he was going to learn in economics that was more important than the fact that Ella Decker loved him.
Maverick pushed the memory down,forcing himself back to the present. Because Ella’s love—if she’d ever really felt it—had been fleeting. He glanced her direction once more. Jace had returned to the table, him and Everett fighting over the last wing. Ella watched for a moment, then her gaze found his again.
There was something sad in her eyes that he found himself responding to, even though it was the last thing he wanted.
Ella was his first love.
His “first time.”
And she was the first—and only—woman to ever break his heart.
Maverick took care to remember that last part, making sure the words sunk in good and deep.
Ella was only here for another week and a half. After that, she’d return to Idaho and he would finally, once and for all, get his shit together and move on.
It was way past time.
But even as he made that silent vow to himself, he knew he was destined to fail.
Because time and distance hadn’t changed one very important thing.
He was still in love with Ella Decker.
Chapter Four
Ella stood in line at the coffee shop, drawing in a deep breath, wishing the delicious smell of the coffee beans and cinnamon rolls could find a way to soothe her.
She’d risen early this morning after a restless night of sleep. As such, her eyes were dry, her thoughts muddy, her body weary.
She shouldn’t have gone to Whiskey Abbey last night.
That sentence had been playing in her head relentlessly since she’d walked across the beautifully renovated bar and spotted Maverick sitting at the table.
Since arriving in Gracemont, Ella had taken care to remain close to Edith’s home, finding excuses for not venturing out. It hadn’t been that difficult to convince Edith that she couldn’t treat the trip as a vacation, claiming she still had deadlines to meet and emails to answer.