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“Love you, too.” She releases me after a few seconds.

“Be careful.” She tugs open the door for me.

“Always.” I throw her one last wave before exiting the house.

Climbing into my mom’s Ford Escape, I drop my bag into the passenger seat before firing the engine to life.

Connecting my phone to the charger, I no more than plug the thing in and another message pops up.

River: 4588 West Point Drive, Apartment 6A.

Wait... He wants me to come to his house?

When he said he wanted to see me, I was thinking meeting up for coffee or a quick bite to eat where he would proceed to rehash all the reasons why this is a bad idea, not going to hishome, where we will no doubt be alone.

Excitement churns in my stomach.

Typing his address into my GPS, my temptation only grows when I see he lives just eight minutes away. Eight minutes and I could be standing inside the home of the man I’ve been obsessing over for months.

Isn’t this exactly what I’ve been wanting? A chance to be alone with him. So why do I feel sonervousall of a sudden?

Me: On my way.

Without giving myself too much time to overthink it, I hit send and plug my phone into the car charging port before dropping the device into the console. Backing out of thedriveway, I follow the directions now displayed on the screen in the center of the dashboard.

My clammy hands grip the steering wheel too tight. The closer I get, the worse my anxiety becomes. By the time I pull up outside of his apartment building in what feels like the blink of an eye, my insides are wound so tight that I’m sure at any moment I’m going to split apart from the tension.

Pulling down the visor, I check myself in the mirror. Having only applied a light layer of mascara and lip gloss before leaving Lyric’s, I look better than I expected. Though some of that might be the natural flush of my skin, my nerves manifesting on the outside as well.

Pulling down a few strands out of my messy bun, I draw in a deep breath and let it out slowly, meeting my green eyes in the reflection of the small mirror.

You got this. I mentally try to hype myself up, but it does little to calm the nervous twitch of my hands.

Another breath in and out, and I close the visor, turning my attention to the eight-story building in front of me as I turn off the engine and force myself out of the car.

I can smell the sea in the air as I cross the parking lot that sits adjacent to the building. Considering I basically drove in a straight line from Lyric’s, I can only assume the beach is nearby. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a view of it from the upper levels of the building.

I talk myself in and out of what I’m doing about twenty times before I reach the front door. And, of course, it’s locked, requiring someone from inside of the building to buzz you in.

Swallowing down the thick knot that has settled at the base of my throat, I press the button to apartment 6A and hold my breath.

River’s voice comes over the intercom within seconds.

“’Bout time you showed up, Red.”

I glance up, realizing there’s a camera pointed down directly at where I’m standing.

Freaking great.

He doesn’t wait for a response before he hits the buzzer and the door in front of me unlocks.

Without a word, I tug it open and slip inside the cool building, which feels refreshing on my too-hot skin.

I head to the double set of elevators that sit straight across the lobby, cursing when the doors slide open the instant I hit the button.

So much for having a minute to collect myself.

The ride up to the sixth floor feels like an eternity and yet happens so fast I’ve barely processed the movement before the elevator stops and the doors slide open once more.