The Fourth Time Charm (Fulton U, #4)

by Maya Hughes

I loved it. I loved watching him get the attention he deserved after the amount of work he put in on the field.

he’d remember every question they’d asked and how great it felt to sign an autograph or two.

He was the best person I knew. Too bad he didn’t feel even half of what I felt for him.

“I love her.” He squeezed the back of his neck, shaking his head. “Will you still love her in a year? In two years?” “I’ve loved her since we were fifteen. It’s never going away.”

Sometimes it felt like I could disappear and no one would really care. It felt like I was a temporary fixture in someone’s life until they moved on. But with LJ I felt like I mattered—always.

How was I supposed to make it through this whole year without making a fool of myself—again?

“I can’t believe you did this for me.” He peered over at me and my stomach flipped like there was a wacky-waving-inflatable-arm-flailing tube man going bonkers inside. “When are you going to get it? I’d do anything for you.”

The ones where I looked at him and wondered what his lips would feel like on mine. Not in a preteen or playground kiss, but a real kiss.

Anyone who thought a dance party of two didn’t sound like a fun time hadn’t met me and LJ.

“But I want you to know we’re proud of you no matter what happens. You’ll have graduated and played amazingly well all these years. You’ve been the rock long before your time, so I want you to promise me you’ll have some fun for yourself before you graduate.”

He was my rock, and the one person I could count on to have my back—even

“I’ve been waiting for this for too long.”

“They weren’t you.”

no longer feeling like I was alone or had been crazy for waiting for her. Not when we got to have this together.

“Girls don’t like feeling like you’re not with them for them.”

“He came with me to those dinners because he’s my friend. I needed support and he was there for me. Whenever I’ve needed support he’s been there for me and you used that friendship against him.”

“You know you’re the strongest person I know.” “I’m not. I’m really not. If I were, I wouldn’t have come running to Fulton U to get Ron to pay for college.” I looked up at him. “And because I hated being away from you in New York.”

“I love you, Marisa.” This wasn’t the first time he’d said it, but this time it felt different. It felt heart-stoppingly, soul-scorchingly different.

Finally getting the recognition for all my hard work felt good.

I didn’t have even a whisper of an idea that it could be better with another woman, and I didn’t want to find out.

I wanted this so badly for him, more than I’d ever wanted anything for me. Because I loved him.

I wanted her with me to tell me everything would be okay

I needed her here. I wanted her here.

“And when you’re the one loving someone when they can’t see it for themselves, you’re bound to get burned. They almost can’t stop themselves from trying to prove to you

that your love’s not real. They try to force your hand until they prove it to you.”

“She will. She loves you, and that’s some scary shit. Once you realize it, there’s no going back.”

All I could hope was it wasn’t too late to show him how much I loved him and salvage our relationship.

“You’ve been the one person who I’ve always been able to be myself with,

I’ve destroyed the one relationship that means the most to me in the world.

I want to be with you in whatever form that takes.

“I love you, LJ. With everything I have, I love you, and even though I’m scared out of my mi...

Not when I’m completely, irrevocably in love with you.

“I’ve loved you from as far back as I can remember.” He huffed. “As long as you can remember?”

He ran his fingers over the markings in the wood. M + LJ with a heart around it.