by Len Webster
Landon.
I have to stop him.
She had chosen Landon, but it hurt knowing that she had to sever ties with someone she had loved her whole life.
Unable to help herself, Alex gazed into the rearview mirror to find Evan standing in the middle of the street clutching his chest. For a single moment, regret filled her, but it was a fleeting moment. Because when she glanced back at the road, she knew exactly who she was fighting for in her life.
To love for all her life.
And that was Landon Carmichael.
Traffic into the city meant she ended up being at least ten minutes behind her father. Landon could have easily gone through security by now, and she’d have missed him. All through her drive, she continued to dial Landon’s and her father’s numbers, but neither had answered. Alex was desperate, even crying as she drove toward the domestic departure terminals of Logan International. She knew that parking was strictly drop-off only, but she didn’t care.
As she got out of her car, all her concerns focused on finding Landon and telling him she wanted to love and be with him. She just needed to explain Evan, and then they could move on. If Landon told her that they both needed to leave Massachusetts immediately, she would agree. She had no idea what she was thinking when she invited Landon back home. She shouldn’t have assumed that Evan would stay in California. That mistake was hers.
“Ma’am, you have to move your car,” an airport officer ordered once she went around her car.
“I just need a few minutes, please. I need to stop my boyfriend from leaving because of a stupid misunderstanding,” she pleaded.
The officer shook his head and pointed at her car. “Drop-off only.”
Alex threaded her fingers together in a plea. “Please, please, please. I just need a minute.”
“Look, ma’am—”
“What’s the problem here?” another officer asked. His eyes went wide with recognition. “’Ey! It’s Little Miss Red Sox. How are ya?”
Relief consumed her.
For the first time ever, she was relieved to be known as Little Miss Red Sox.
“Hello, sir.”
“She needs to move her car, Rick.”
The officer rolled his eyes. “He’s from Kansas. Knows nothin’ about baseball, the Red Sox, or who you are. How can I help?”
Alex smiled, full of appreciation for the officer. “I have to find my boyfriend. I don’t think he would have gone through security yet. He would have had to buy a ticket. I need to stop him or at least talk to him. I made a stupid mistake. I need to tell him I love him, and I need to—”
“Alex?”
Landon’s voice had her spinning around. “Landon?”
He smiled at her. It was small as if he were afraid of her. “What are you doing here?”
She walked up to him, telling herself that running toward him and throwing her arms around him wasn’t what he needed right now. He needed the truth. “To stop you.”
“Why?” He didn’t seem moved by her gesture, but she knew he was protecting himself.
“You,” she said softly, knowing that it was so right coming from her lips. Then Alex wrapped her arms around his waist, showing him the truth in her words. “I love you.”
Relief flashed in his bright blue eyes. “I love you, Alex. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I left. I overreacted. He’s an ex, and I handled meeting him badly.”
“He doesn’t matter, Landon. I’m choosing you because you make me happy.”
He smirked. “Yeah?”
“Yes,” she confirmed and pressed her lips to his in a chaste kiss. “Where’s my dad?”
Landon pulled back. “He dropped me here, told me I was an idiot for leaving you, and left. I was standing in line ready to buy a ticket when I realized he was right. I didn’t fight hard enough. But I promise I will. I’ll fight harder for you. Because he is your past, and I am your future. I came out here to find a cab to take me back to your place so I could tell you how sorry I was for stupidly walking away. And to tell you how much I love you.”
Her heart stretched in her chest at the love in his voice.
She had made the right choice.
Looking into his beautiful blue eyes, she was sure of it.
It’s you.
“I love you, Landon Carmichael. And I’m so sorry you had to hear all of that. I love you. Just you,” she said wholeheartedly.
Landon’s grin had her smiling. “I love you, too, Alex.” He bent down and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
It wasn’t the most romantic place to declare their love—at Logan International Airport with a countless number of travelers around them—but she didn’t care.
It was love.
And love had no bounds.
As Landon grasped her face to kiss her, she heard one of the airport officers behind her say, “See, Mav, that’s why sometimes you gotta let them have a couple of minutes,” causing her to laugh.
Landon bent down, whispered, “I definitely love you, too,” before his lips once again stifled her laughter with his beautiful kisses.
It was love.
And they had no bounds.
75 Re
rhenium
ALEX
Now
Alex found it strange how foreign Duke University looked from inside Evan’s car. The long way back to Duke had taken fourteen hours. The sun had started to set during their drive, lighting the sky with shades of orange and purple. It was beautiful. It was a spectacular sight to see before she would say goodbye to Evan Gilmore. She wasn’t sure if it was goodbye for the last time. It seemed the universe knew that the concept of last time never seemed to apply to Alex and Evan. It was never the last time and going back home and seeing him again was proof of that.
“I’ll get your bag,” Evan said as he got out of the car.
She should have gotten out, but she couldn’t. She wanted to stay a little longer. Hide out a lot longer and not face what life would be like once she got out of the car. Alex wanted more time. More hours. More days to figure out her heart. But she didn’t have time. She didn’t have any more hours left.
But she did know that what she felt was true.
Removing her seat belt, she picked up her purse and opened it. She reached inside and pulled out the gift tag she had ripped from Evan’s present. She held it in her hands and felt her heart ache. He hadn’t opened his present. He kept his promise. Alex wanted to read the words she once wrote full of love. But she couldn’t.
It wasn’t right.
Not with her returning to Duke.
Her side door opening had her craning her neck to find Evan with a sad smile on his face, and she folded the paper tag.
He sacrificed his place in her heart for her happiness. His actions put her first, and she was walking away.
“It’s time, AJ.”
Evan was right. It was time. It was time she left him behind and concentrate on herself for a while.
That was what she had decided during their drive.
Alex got out of his car and brushed her hair back. As Evan set down her suitcase and pulled up the handle for her, Alex spun around and set the tag on the passenger seat. Then she closed the door before she could change her mind.
Evan would read her love when he was miles from Duke.
Far enough away so he couldn’t turn around.
But enough to know that she did love him.
Satisfied with her decision, Alex grasped her suitcase handle, ready to head toward her dorm.
“I’m glad I came home,” Evan said before he smiled at her. “Seeing you again, AJ, it was more than I had ever dreamed or deserved. I’m not going to tell you I love you or beg you to reconsider my place in your life. I just want to say that if you ever lose yourself, I’m only a phone call away. If you need a friend, I�
�ll be one. Just don’t lose track of who you are or where you’re going. Your love for science is what’s important. And don’t let him or anyone else tell you your dreams come second. I’d have sacrificed Stanford, my scholarship, and my eligibility for you to have your dream. To get into MIT.”
They were the words, but his actions had been made.
Alex knew what her heart had always known deep down.
That she still loved Evan Gilmore with every atom within her.
“Goodbye, AJ,” he said with a tinge of sadness in his voice.
She felt that sadness. She understood it.
“Goodbye, Evan. Thank you for being honest with me and for driving me back to Duke. I hate that you’re driving back to Brookline on your own.”
He shrugged with a small smile to his lips. “I’ll be all right.”
Alex pulled on her suitcase as she stepped around Evan, heading toward west campus and to her dorm room, excited to see Savannah. Every step she took felt wrong. Last time they had said goodbye, they didn’t have all the answers. They had their faith, but mistakes and choices had cost them over a year of separation.
She felt unfinished. It didn’t feel right to leave him, no matter how torn her heart was. She came to stop, realizing that her heart wasn’t truly torn over two men. It was torn over one even though she had the excuse of two to hide behind.
It was clear she still loved Evan Gilmore, and the years she gave him had her turning around, not wanting to give up.
“AJ?” He appeared confused at her change in direction.
Her heart sang with joy, knowing he had watched her walk away. “Evan …”
He ran to her, closing the distance. “Yes?”
“I have to ask.”
“Okay?”
She let go of the suitcase and took a deep breath. Once she released it, she asked, “Why didn’t we go through Connecticut?”
His face softened as he reached up and brushed her hair behind her ear. “Because Connecticut broke your heart, and I wasn’t going to let him or the state do it a second time.”
Her heart squeezed tightly in her chest.
It was love in his voice. Love that she had always wanted from him. Love she would not feel guilty about wanting or needing. Evan Gilmore was holmium. He strengthened her and absorbed her pain as holmium does to neutrons to keep a chain reaction under control.
He prevented the destruction of her.
He took her pain and guided her back to her dreams.
Tears prickled at his confession as to why they hadn’t driven through Connecticut to get to Duke. Why he added an extra three hours to their drive in order to save her heart from the memory of her ex-boyfriend.
“I would have supported you had you not pushed me away. We would have gotten through anything together,” she said, blinking her tears away.
Evan brushed them away with a nod. “I know you would have. But you had the chance to have the normal life you always wanted. You were happy. I wanted you to be so happy.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, knowing that all the moments she had of college so far were memories that would last a lifetime. Moments she knew she might have never had, had her image been tainted by the media.
“I am so sorry that I had to hurt you so much. I’m so sorry. But you should know that I would sacrifice my place in your heart and in your life for your happiness and safety. I’d do anything to protect you. I’d do everything in my power to give you the life you’ve always deserved.”
She nodded, understanding his actions now. She also understood why her heart yearned for him. Why her heart didn’t want him to go. Why it refused for them to end once more.
“Evan,” she said in a tiny, frightened voice.
“AJ.”
She reached up and cupped his jaw, ensuring he didn’t turn away and miss the words she had held back since last night. The very words he had been brave and foolish enough to say.
“I …”
The most beautiful smile illuminated his face. “I know.”
“Then let me say it,” she encouraged, brushing her thumb along his soft skin.
Evan shook his head. “Not yet. The timing isn’t right for us, AJ.”
She bit her lip and shook her head. She was her mother’s daughter. But unlike her mother, she didn’t need two weeks for her heart to know. She had known the moment she came home what her heart truly needed.
What her life truly desired.
Who her soul had always cherished.
Getting on her tippy toes, her lips ever so close to his, she whispered, “I love you, Evan.”
He clenched his eyes shut as if he were savoring those four words. A heartbeat later, he opened his eyes, and confessed, “I love you, too, AJ.”
A year and a half later and they still loved each other. But they were still at a standstill as to where their lives lay with each other’s.
It didn’t matter.
Love had been said, but promises were not made.
They wouldn’t make that mistake a second time.
“I’m confused because …” She shut her mouth, hating that she dampened this moment.
“You still love him,” Evan stated. “And that’s okay, AJ. Whenever you’re ready … I’ll be waiting for you. This promise doesn’t work two ways. You don’t have to choose me if your heart loves him more. But give yourself time. Go fall in love with science again. Let it be about you because you deserve it to be about you. Because one day, you are going to be so successful, and it wouldn’t have been because of me or him. It would have been all because of you.”
She nodded, loving him more for allowing her and her heart to have its time.
To find its peace.
“Thank you,” Alex said as she broke their contact, not allowing a kiss to confuse their situation. She spun around, grasped her suitcase handle, and took a step toward her dormitory.
“AJ!” Evan shouted, stopping her. She spun around to find his hands inside his jacket pockets. “Whatever you decide …”
Alex nodded. “I know. You’ll still be a part of my life in some way.”
“Thank you,” he said, his voice full of gratitude.
Then she made her way across campus, leaving Evan behind her, ready to continue with her life at Duke.
He was right.
It had to be about her love of science.
She had come to Duke for her.
To live her dreams.
To get into MIT and be the physicist she had always dreamed of becoming.
When Alex made it to her dorm, she reached into her purse and pulled out her Duke lanyard that had her key card on it. Once she pressed it against the card reader, she made her way toward the elevator and pressed the button. She stepped inside the elevator once it opened and pressed the button for the third floor. It felt like so long ago since she’d been in this very elevator. It felt like forever since she last saw her roommate. Savannah was the only person she had missed so much while she was back home in Brookline.
Liar.
She cringed as the elevator reached the third floor. She did miss Landon more. Time away from him had been good for her. But time spent with Evan had confused her.
She loved them both, but that didn’t mean she would give either her heart.
She couldn’t trust either with it right now.
Once the elevator opened, she stepped out and went down the hall toward her dorm room. Since Savannah had the closing shift tonight, Alex had time to shower and mentally prepare herself for her best friend’s interrogation.
When she turned a corner, she noticed someone sitting at her door.
Her steps had him getting to his feet, his face full of apology and heartbreak.
“Landon?” she breathed as she took in the bouquet of multi-colored tulips.
&nbs
p; Landon made a lopsided smile as he took a long step toward her. “Alex, baby, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I love you. Please. Please give me a chance. Please forgive me.”
The end of
THE RESULTS OF UNREQUITED
Book three in the Science of Unrequited series.
Find out what happens next to AJ and Evan in
THE DISSOLUTION OF UNREQUITED
The final book in the Science of Unrequited series.
THE DISSOLUTION OF UNREQUITED
Book four in the Science of Unrequited series.
Atomic number: 102
Name of chemical element: Nobelium
Symbol: No
Every concept has a state of dissolution… even between best friends.
COMING SOON
EARLY-2019
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Third time’s the charm, huh? Thank you so much for reading The Results of Unrequited. What a journey it was. It was the toughest book I wrote for AJ and Evan so far in the series. I can confess that I did cry once (maybe twice) writing this book. No matter their heartache, AJ and Evan will always be soul mates, whether they end up together or not. No spoilers from me! Nope. I can’t wait for you to read their final book, The Dissolution of Unrequited, is coming early 2019.
Always and forever, thank you to my wonderful supportive family. I love you all so much and couldn’t do this without you. And of course, my favourite buddies in the world, Curly and Chloe, always the good dogs.
Jaycee Ford, best friend and the most supportive author I know. Thank you for always pushing me to get these books out there. I love you. (I’m writing this dedication on a plane to you!)