Her eyes shined, and her lips trembled as she kissed me lightly. “Okay. We’ll figure this out. I don’t know how, but we will.” Her eyes lit in a way I hadn’t seen since before Grace woke up, and her smile was enough to bring me to my knees, if they weren’t already tangled with hers. “Oh, and I brought you a present.”

“You did?”

“I figured graduation was a brownie kind of moment.” She rolled out of my reach and brought a box between us, then handed me the chocolate square. “So I baked while I was at Morgan’s. Hopefully I got it right.”

I bit into it and closed my eyes in ultimate surrender. They were perfect, with that special hint of something I could never define. My eyes popped open. “These are my mom’s. I’ve been after this recipe for years.”

She shrugged. “She taught me that day she invited me over.”

“She swore she would never give it to me until…” When you grow up and realize what’s good for you.

Sam squeaked when I knocked the box to the floor and pulled her underneath me, chocolate still smearing her lips. “Kissing is fair game, right?” I asked, grinning.

She nodded slowly, her eyes darting to my lips.

I looked to the clock. “We have to be at graduation in seven hours. I’m going to kiss you every single minute of it.”

By the time we showed up at graduation, our lips were swollen, and her neck was irritated from my now-shaved scruff.

Samantha pinned my wings to my chest with a silver set she’d had engraved with my initials. My dad even smiled. Pictures were taken, lunch eaten, and I took her to the airport.

“You’re mine?” I asked, my arms wound around her waist at security.

“As much as you’re mine,” she answered, her fingers locked behind my neck.

“We’ll find a way.”

She leaned up on her toes and kissed me. “We’ll find a way.”

I watched her until she’d gone through security and waved.

Then I went back to finish packing. I would find a damned way. I was done leaving my life up to fate, done waiting for things to work out, and done waiting to be with Sam. I’d find the way, or I’d fucking make one.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Sam

My footsteps were sure as I walked toward the administration building, never faltering despite the ice beneath me. I made it to my seat in front of the disciplinary board, passing by Harrison and his wife, a slender woman with a beautiful face and a bitter mouth. They’d already been fired. He was here as my accuser, and she was pending trial for criminal charges for what she’d done to us, but her only purpose today was to see what my punishment would be for hitting her husband.

My phone buzzed, and I took it out of my pocket.

Grayson: Thinking about you. I hear the weather is gorgeous today for a verdict.

My heart swelled to the size of the Colorado sky.

Sam: I’ll call you after. And blue skies would be perfect for flying, just saying.

Grayson: You make Colorado perfect. I’m so proud of you.

Missing him had become the status quo the last month, but it struck even harder right now. I got out one last text before the board walked in.

Sam: I know I said I needed to do this alone, and I did. But I really wish you were here right now.

I slipped my phone into my purse as they took their seats. This would be my only opportunity to speak…to any of them. If I could keep lunch in my stomach, it just might work.

Dean Miller, flanked by equal parts faculty and student disciplinary committee, cleared his throat before speaking. “Ms. Fitzgerald, we’ve spoken at length both about your offense and what you have suffered since. Is there anything you’d like to say before we discuss your future?”

I nodded my head and stood, holding on to the corner of the table with my fingertips. Don’t puke. “What I did that day was inexcusable. I’m not asking for consideration for the circumstances. I struck a member of the faculty, and I’ll accept whatever punishment you decide. Colorado is the only home I’ve ever really known. I came to UCCS so I could stay here, in what I love as my hometown. I’m just asking that you allow me to finish my degree here.”

My stomach tightened, regret washing over me with the force of an unbreakable tidal wave as I turned to face the back of the room where the Proctors sat. Michelle raised her chin, hatred evident in the set of her eyes. “I’m truly sorry for the pain I caused you,” I said to her, ignoring Harrison. “I never knew he was married, and if I could take it back, or take some of the pain away from you, I would. You don’t deserve what happened to you.”

She tore her gaze from mine, blinking back tears. What she’d done to me was reprehensible, but there was a small part of me that understood, and an even bigger part that already forgave her.

I turned back to the committee and remained standing.

Dean Miller gathered himself with a deep breath. “Ms. Fitzgerald, we do find that you struck a member of the University faculty. While there are extenuating circumstances, we feel that were we not to impose a punishment, it would be a detriment not only to you but to the university itself. However, we are not willing to lose a student like you. So we ask that you provide twenty hours of community service to the University, preferably by tutoring the lower sections of freshman math, while you finish your degree here at the University of Colorado.”

My eyes burned, and my throat closed. I managed a nod of my head and a broken “Thank you,” before the committee filed out.




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