I walk straight to her.
She opens her mouth, maybe to tease me, maybe to congratulate me, but I grab her waist, pull her in, and kiss her.
Slow.
Deep.
Real.
The kind of kiss that feels like claiming something that was always meant to be mine.
She melts against me.
Footsteps and loud voices echo down the hallway. Great. Here comes trouble.
Dex rounds the corner first, followed by Eli, Colby, Gabriel, and Bobby. They're all suited up, looking like a pack of overgrown golden retrievers who figured out how to dress themselves for once.
Dex takes one look at us and clutches his chest dramatically. “OH MY GOD. THEY’RE KISSING IN THE WILD. SOMEONE CALL NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC.”
Eli whistles. “Look at this, high schoolers making out in the hallway.”
Dex smirks and adds, “Looks like our brilliant plan worked, huh?”
Gabriel smirks at Annabelle. “So, you approve of our little… concert?”
Annabelle steps back slightly, cheeks warm but smiling. “Approve? I’m still trying to process it. I mean, your TV debut? Legendary. Terrifying. Possibly illegal.”
Colby beams. “We rehearsed for almost nine minutes.”
“That… explains a lot,” she says.
They laugh and fist bump each other.
Annabelle softens then, lifting her chin. “Seriously. Thank you. All of you. You didn’t have to do any of that for me.”
The guys go quiet.
Dex shrugs. “Yeah, we did.”
Eli nods. “You’re our girl. And Blackhorn here is dumber than a bag of pucks when he’s in his feelings, so someone had to intervene.”
Bobby pats my shoulder. “We’ve got your back. And hers.”
Annabelle’s eyes shine a little. She laughs it off, but we all see it.
Gabriel clears his throat. “Alright, idiots, let’s go. Give these two some privacy before Coach finds us and makes us run laps.”
Dex salutes us both. “Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do. Which means… you’re pretty much free to do anything.”
They scatter, still chirping down the hallway as they go.
I shake my head. “I hate them.”
Annabelle smiles up at me. “You absolutely don’t.”
I murmur against her mouth, “Ready for the part where you don’t make plans?”
She nods into my chest. I swear my heart almost malfunctions.
