Chapter 12

January 26th

1:05 p.m.

Iyawned, stretching my legs out under the desk as I reclined in my seat. At last. Another one of Dr. Wilder's lectures was finally over. When Dr. Wilder strode from the room without a backwards glance, the formerly silent lecture hall suddenly filled with noise.

"Sam!" From the row in front of me, Noah spun around. "We're booking an escape room for research for the project that's due in February, and there's two places left, if you wanna come. You can bring, uh, a partner if you want. We all are. It's technically supposed to be for first-year business students only, but where's the fun in that?"

"Thanks for the invite. I'm definitely interested. Let me know when it's happening, and I'll check if my boyfriend's working." A helpless grin spread across my face at the words. My boyfriend.

From their positions on either side of Noah, Damon and Levi turned around in unison. The three of them stared at me, their brows rising in sync. I bit back a laugh.

"Boyfriend?" Noah asked.

"Yeah. My boyfriend. His name's Ryan. He's doing a sports science degree here, and he works at Savage Boxing Gym as a trainer, too."

"Fit." Noah and Levi nodded approvingly.

"Very." My smile was wide enough to make my cheeks ache. Ryan?—

Wait a minute. The smile slid from my face. We'd never actually discussed officially becoming boyfriends. I needed to rectify that. Now.

And after I'd spoken to Ryan about that, I had something else to tell him, and I wasn't sure how he was going to react.

But I had to do it.

Pulling my phone from my pocket, I sent a text.

* * *

2:25 p.m.

"Coffee?" Wandering through Borough Market with Sam on our way to the river, both of us wrapped up in thick winter coats and scarves, I spotted a coffee vendor among the stalls we were checking out.

"Yeah. I'll get these. It's my turn." Sam flashed me the grin that made me want to agree to anything.

"Okay. My turn next time, though."

"Sure." Squeezing my hand in his, he turned to place our order with the vendor. As soon as we had our drinks, I took my coffee in one hand and gripped his fingers with the other, tugging him through the market and down towards the river. When we reached it, we stopped, leaning against the wall that ran alongside the pathway, watching the sun sparkling on the Thames. Londoners and tourists meandered past us, enjoying the winter sunshine, while seagulls circled overhead, eyeing the ground for fallen morsels of food.

Sam's voice was soft as he shifted back against the wall, scuffing his trainers against the ground beneath our feet. "You'll never know how happy I am that we decided to give this a go."

A smile tugged at my lips as I met his gaze. "Same. Best decision we ever made."

He returned my smile before turning serious. Placing his coffee carefully on the wall, he reached into the inner pocket of his winter coat, pulling out a little silver flask. "A toast," he murmured, careful to keep the flask out of view of the passers-by.

"A toast? What are we drinking to?"

"Uh. Two things. First, will…will you be my boyfriend? Officially. I, uh, I realised we'd never properly discussed it."

My heart fucking melted for this man, standing there, chewing on his lip nervously. He had zero reason to be nervous. There was no way I'd ever let him go. "Sam. Of course. We already are, you know. But this can be the date we make things official." He blew out a relieved breath, and I smiled, reaching out to clasp his hand. "Okay, boyfriend. What's the second thing?"

"Second. I—I need to say this." Swallowing hard, he stepped closer to me, sliding his arms around me, keeping a grip on the tiny flask.

I put my coffee down next to his, my heart suddenly beating faster. The surrounding people faded away as my full focus fixed on him.

"I need to say it," he continued, his voice breathless and a little shaky, and it made me want to keep him wrapped in my arms forever so he knew that I'd never let him go. "Maybe it's too soon. But I can't not say it, because it's true, and I need you to know." His lips brushed against mine. "I love you, Ryan."

"I love you, too, Sam." The words fell from my mouth without me having to even think about them. How could I not love this man? He knew me better than anyone else, and he owned my heart.

His arms tightened around me, and his lips met mine.

Everything faded away.

Everything except for him.