I’ve just closed my eyes in despair when my doorbell buzzes.
Chapter Eleven
Austin
“Hello?”
Chloe’s voice flows tentatively through the apartment building speaker. I feel warmth flood my chest at the sound of her voice.
“Hey, Chloe,” I say. “It’s me.”
“Austin?” Now her voice is high and shocked. “What are you…come up!”
The door buzzes and I grab it and fling it open.
I practically run up the stairs. When I make it up to her floor, she’s already standing there in her doorway, in shock.
“Hi,” I say, grinning.
“Hi,” she says. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to see you.”
“Yeah, but…”
A neighbor walks down the hallway and Chloe breaks from her trance to pull me into her apartment.
“You flew down here?” she says. “You werejusthere.”
“I know. But I needed to see you again.”
“I’m…” She shakes her head. “I just got off the phone with my brother. He told me about everything. About knowing. About how they…”
“I know,” he says. “They thought we’d be good together.”
“I tried texting you…and when you didn’t respond, I thought…” She looks up at me. “But you’re here.”
“I’m here.” I smile. “I’m here to officially ask you if you want to be together. For real. No hiding from anyone.”
She laughs. “You could have called me and asked me this, you know.”
“No,” I say. “I couldn’t. I needed to see you. Because I needed to tell you this in person, Chloe. I’m falling in love with you.”
She gasps. “What? You are?”
I nod. “Yeah. I know it’s quick. But I feel like I’ve known you forever. I mean…Ihaveknown you forever, Chloe. Our paths just haven’t crossed in the right way until now.”
She tears up. She nods. “Yeah. You’re right.” Then she smiles. “You aren’t going to propose to me now, are you?”
I laugh. “No. But I should probably tell you…I’ve had thoughts about what it would be like if you were my wife. Does that freak you out?”
She shakes her head. “No.”
“I know we still have some obstacles to overcome. But I don’t care how hard it is or how much time it takes. I want to be with you. And I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”
“I’m willing to do whatever it takes, too.” She grins. “I had a crush on you, you know. Back in the day.”
“You did?”
