🌹Rosalie🌹

The pungent smell of fresh ground coffee swims around me. The busy chatter of voices and numbing monotony of suitcases wheeled across the floor consumes every sense. I look over at the coffee shop, tempted to get something to wake me up. Taking a 7 a.m. flight means I've been up since 3 a.m. and I'm in a weird space of completely exhausted yet inexplicably wired.

There's a warmth beside me, a smile already blooming along my face. I look over, Nolan's blue-gray eyes set perfectly on mine, a smile soft as the sea pulled across his lips. And then his hand is in mine, our fingers laced as if they were built to fit together. But just as soon as the warmth of his palm meets mine, my eyes grow wide and I move to pull my hand from his.

His fingers tighten within my grasp, his eyes still holding mine. He leans forward, placing a gentle kiss along my lips. My eyes flutter closed, my heart settled as I melt into him.

When he pulls back, he brings a hand to my cheek, his thumb sliding along my skin as he looks at me. "We don't have to hide here, Red," he whispers. "We don't know anyone in this airport, or in New York. We have forty-eight hours to be together openly."

"Together," I repeat the word, letting it flutter across my chest and ignite my cheeks. "Does this mean Nolan Bradshaw is asking me to be his girlfriend?"

His smile grows, stretching along my heart as his eyes flicker with light. "I'm asking you to be my girlfriend, Rosalie Lane."

"But just for two days," I reiterate.

He steps closer, his chest touching mine as he peers down at me. "For two days, I want the whole world to see you as mine. To see that I'm yours."

"And after?"

"After," he says, tilting my chin up. "After, I'll just have to keep you all to myself."

All to himself. There's a spark that flutters across my chest, an excitement to it all. But for the next two days, I get to hold his hand as we walk down the street, kiss him whenever I want. "So, what would a boyfriend do right now in the middle of the airport, his girlfriend in his arms?"

His smile turns sinister, his hand slips further along my neck, effectively tipping my face back just enough to be perfectly angled with his. And then he kisses me. He kisses me in the middle of the crowd, for all to see.

We're not hiding. Here, he's all mine, and I'm his.

Someone whistles behind us, and I bury my head in his chest, my cheeks on fire but my heart filled with all the right kind of warmth. It feels good to be seen, to elicit whistles that we don't have to hide from.

He lifts my head, finding my eyes before he bends down and kisses the tip of my nose. "Come on," he says, wrapping an arm around me. I reach for his hand, the one dangling from my shoulder as I bring our fingers back together.

"Where are we going?"

"Nowhere," he says, walking down the crowded walkway. "Everywhere."

I smile, looking at random faces as they smile at the two of us. I smile back, not ashamed or fearful of who might see. Just completely proud.

"Is this what it's like?" I ask. He looks down at me, the question across his eyes. "To be in a relationship?"

"I don't know, Red. This is a first for me."

I smile, trying to hide the way my heart flutters at his words. "So, I'm your first, huh?"

He laughs, the cutest gleam across his eyes as he pulls me into his side. "Yeah. You're my first."

"Is it completely terrible that I like the sound of that?"

He pulls us to a stop, pausing to grasp my face within his hands. His lips meet mine again, in the middle of the busy walkway. People muttering, others laughing.

"I got to have a first of yours," he says, still holding my face between his hands. "It's only fair you have one of mine, too."

***

The college is stunning. Gray brick buildings stand tall, like a castle lost in a sea of the city, the green of the surrounding trees bringing it a majestic beauty that's indescribable.

Nolan took off on his tour an hour ago. I decided to spend the time with a pair of headphones and the quiet of the massive campus that somehow feels quaintly small. I let my head fall back against the tree, the sun tucking itself away as the first set of lights flick on above me. The majority of his tour will be tomorrow, starting with an early breakfast hosted by the school. I will be at my audition by then. And the thought has my head spinning, my chest growing tight.

I feel as though I've practiced a lifetime for this moment. At one point, I thought I wouldn't actually get the chance to fulfill that dream. But then Nolan came along, not taking no for an answer, showing me that it's okay to fight for myself in so many ways.

I take a breath, letting the air fill my lungs, that queasy feeling settling at the base of my stomach. Placing my hand there, I keep breathing.

Inhale...one, two...exhale.

I'm ready. I've practiced, I've studied, I've brought every piece of me to that audition piece.

Inhale...one, two...exhale.

As my eyes flutter open, I continue to breathe, to take in the beauty around me. I've lived an hour away from here for most of my life, but I've never seen this campus. It's truly something worthy of a movie, of a postcard.

A pair of hands cover my eyes, a smile already stretched across my face as I let my fingers fall against his. Nolan lets his hands drop as he comes in front of me. "Hey," he says, pulling me to my feet and wrapping his arms around me. His lips are on mine, pushing me up against the tree behind me. My hands slide along his back, holding him against me.

"Hi," I breathe out along his mouth. "How was the tour?"

"Short," he answers. "But the coach was just as cool in person as he seemed over the phone."

"That's good, right?"

He smiles. "Yeah. It's good. It's really kind of beautiful here, too, isn't it?" He asks, glancing around the campus.

"Yeah. I mean, I'm sure Oregon is beautiful too. Maybe even more so."

His eyes drop back to mine. "Yeah. It is. But I still want to see more that New York has to offer before I make a choice. What do you say? Wanna show me around?" I hesitate, the utter joy across his eyes falling short across my chest. "What? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I shake it off. "Yeah, let's see the town."

"No," he stops me, holding me with him as he searches my eyes. "What's going on?"

I take a breath, peering up into his eyes. "It's just...I found an open studio where I can go stretch, run through my routine one more time," I say, hesitantly waiting for him to drop those eyes of his and tell me I'm crazy.

"Okay." He nods instead, stepping back and letting his hand fall into mine. "How far? Walk or Uber?"

"Nolan, no," I say, shaking my head. "This trip isn't just for me. It's for you, too. You should see the town, see everything it has to offer."

"And I will. Tomorrow. Right now, let's get you to the studio."

"You really want to spend the rest of our night watching me run through the same routine you've seen a hundred times?"

He steps closer, his chest along mine. "I want to spend the rest of the night watching the girl who makes my heart spin circles practice her routine for the hundredth time. I want to watch you reach for a dream, watch as you make it come true."

My hand falls behind his neck, bringing his head to mine. "You can't actually be this perfect, Nolan."

His smile does its thing, resting so damn soft against my heart. "I'm not perfect, Red. Far from it. I just happen to like the way your smile lights up your eyes. If anything, I'm selfish for wanting to see it again and again."

"Selfish," I repeat the word, smiling up at him. "That's what we're calling selfish? Making me smile?"

He laughs. "Your smile makes me want to open my entire soul to you," he says, catching my breath and holding it still within his grasp. "It's a feeling I've never felt safe to feel, not until you. You're an addiction, Red. So, yeah. I'm selfish for wanting to make you smile. For wanting to feel the way it lights up my own chest."

I bring my lips to his, let my body melt into him and my soul to open to his. The two of us, out in the open, completely exposed to everyone around us. And yet, it feels like it's just us, encased in our own private bubble. Just me and him.

"I feel safe with you too," I whisper against his lips, my fingers slipping into his hair, pulling him down to me.

He nods. "Should we get out of here? Practice that routine before it gets too late?"

"In a minute," I say, pulling him into me as I rest my cheek against his chest. "I want to stay like this a little longer. Out in the open."

His arms slide around my waist, hugging me tighter. "We can stay like this as long as you want, Red."