Page 16 of The One

“I looked for you”—his voice turned gritty—“in every girl who talked to me, who walked by, who sat next to me in class. I looked to see if there were similarities, if there was even a tinyresemblance.” His stare shifted to my mouth. “Not a single one could live up to you.”

I held his wrist while he touched me. “Do you know how many times I dreamed of these fingers on my face?” I wasn’t sure if I’d voiced those words or if my thoughts were screaming so loud that it just felt like I’d spoken.

“I want to tell you something.” When he exhaled, his breath came out hard.

The nerves didn’t settle when I nodded.

Whatever was about to come out of his mouth could either break my heart or fill it.

His fingers stretched out across my cheek, his thumb pressing along the side of my mouth. “It’s always been you.” He moved his face closer. “And, Lainey, it will always be you.”

FIVE

Rhett

Present Day

She was still standing in front of me with her hands on my chest, shaking me, yelling, “Rhett!” Each time she said my name, she got a little louder. “Wake up! Please!”

There was no doubt in my mind who I was looking at. She was missing the dimple on her right cheek and the freckle to the left of her nose. And then there was her voice.

What I couldn’t understand was why Penelope had kept telling me to wake up and why she repeatedly shouted my name over and over.

I was awake. I was gazing at her.

Her grip turned harder, her movements rougher. “Rhett!”

Talk to me, I tried to say.Explain to me what’s going on. But those were no more than thoughts. My lips felt glued together, like they had been since she’d appeared, making it impossible to open my mouth.

“Rhett!”

She looked so good. Tan, like the summer we’d spent on the beach between our junior and senior year of high school. She was smiling the way she did whenever she talked about having fun.

“Rhett, open your eyes.”

But they are open, Penelope.

“You’re sleeping. You need to wake up.”

I’m … sleeping?

“Yes,” she replied as though she’d heard my thoughts. “Now, get up.”

Get up—oh!

My eyes flicked open, and that was when I realized I’d been sleeping.

I expected the morning light to blind me.

But there was no light.

There was only darkness.

Penelope, the yelling of my name, the shaking—it had all been a dream.

Except …

Fuck me.Some parts had been real.