With You

Chapter 28

There's a light tap on my room door, and Josh enters.

"What's up?" I say.

He comes toward me and I see tears in his eyes. I've never seen him cry in my life, so I'm a little scared.

"Josh, what's wrong?" Without saying anything he sits on my bed and smile.

"I signed my contract today," he whispers.

I sigh in relief because I thought something bad happened. "That's great! Are you satisfied?"

"Lynn, they signed me to a four year, twenty-one million dollar contract. With a fourteen-million signing bonus." I sit there in shock. "Are you serious? Is that good?"

He laughs at me and wipes his eyes. "That's way more than I imagined. I've dreamt about going pro my whole life and seeing my dreams turn into reality is a blessing."

"Well, I know I always say this, but I'm proud of you. You're an inspiration."

He gets up and walks to the dor. "Thanks. I just wanted to let you know. I love you."

"Love you too."

"To the ones who actually did it, you're projects were wonderful. I enjoyed each and every one of them," Ms. Willers say. When she hands Zayden and I papers back she smiles. "Congratulations. You to received the highest grade on the project."

When she says that, everything around me stops. I only agreed to go on the date with Zayden because there's no way I thought we would get the highest grade.

"Be ready by eight," he whispers in my ear, then leaves.

I run back to my dorm and send a group text.

Zayden won the bet. I have a date tonight and I'm freaking out.

Madison is first to respond.

Don't go. TyLynn isn't over.

Don't listen to Madison. Go and have some fun. I'm sure y'all will have a great time (:

Josh and Cooper's text come in after Ava's.

You never listen to me, but a bet is a bet. Just go

Yeah, if you need to get out of there, text me and I'll call you on some crazy shit. I'm still Team Tyler forever, though.

Bye. You guys suck.

I'm not nearly as nervous as I was on my date with Tyler. The date is going smoothly and I actually do have a good time. Zayden takes me to this new Italian restaurant that opened a few weeks ago. We skip over pleasantries and make small talk. He tells me about his life in London and I tell him about my life in Ohio.

"You have to visit London one day, Lynn. It's beautiful."

"I've heard. I want to study abroad my junior year and maybe I'll go," I smile.

"You won't regret it."

He pulls his car into a park and I suddenly get Déjà vu. I open the door and hop out. Zayden follows behind and stops me.

"What's wrong? Did I say something that you didn't like?" He questions.

I hate that I'm going to break his heart, again, but I have to be honest with myself. I know if I was to date Zayden I couldn't even offer him a fraction of my heart because it belongs to someone else.

"I'm sorry, Zayden. I thought I could do this," I say gesturing a finger between us. "But I can't. I'm not over Tyler and I'm sorry for dragging you into this again. You're such a great guy and I know you'll find a girl that can offer you way more than I can," I rant.

He stops me with a hand. "It's cool, Adalyn. It's my fault. I knew you weren't over him, but I thought I could help you."

"Thanks for trying and for the record I had a great time. You're going to make a great boyfriend to someone."

He gives me a sad smile. "Just not to you, huh?" I try to smile back. "No, sorry."

He rubs the back of his neck and pulls me into a hug. "Can I have a kiss goodbye?" He whispers.

"Sure."

He lifts my chin up and I close my eyes. The kiss is so light, I barely feel it. When he comes in for another one it's slow and hard. His tongue grazes over my lips, asking for permission to enter and I open my mouth in response. He kisses me softly.

"See you around, Zay."

"I'll be seeing you, Lynn," he blows me a kiss before turning in the opposite direction.