The Third Best Thing (Fulton U, #3)

by Maya Hughes

“I feel like someone’s run over my heart with a tire made of cleats. I keep waking up in the middle of the night and looking out the window at your room and I want to be in there with you. I want to be holding you and rubbing that spot on your nose with the freckle cluster that kind of looks like a tiny strawberry.” She lifted her hand and rubbed it along the bridge of her nose. “And I want to call you, or even write you letters, because I miss you, Frenchie. I miss you so much that even with all the people I’ve lost in my life, it’s you who keeps me up at night because you’re part of my heart. You’re part of my soul and I swear…” I choked through the words, pushing past the tightness in my throat and the tears in my eyes. “I promised I wouldn’t do this, that I’d give you space and not make showing up here like this, but fuck it. I love you so much that my future that was once so crystal clear is a wasteland stretching on as far as I can see when I try to picture it now without you.” “You’ve got a great future ahead of you. You’ve already made it through so much.” “It doesn’t mean anything if I can’t get another private dance lesson, if I can’t sit at our kitchen table and watch you work your magic, if I can’t hold you in my arms and tell you how much I love you.”