“It is a difficult question. That’s for sure.” I ran my finger tip over the rim of my water. “Peanut butter and jelly. That’d be mine. Protein, carbs, a little sweet. It fills you up, and it tastes good.”
His gaze softened at me, and he bent over to his bag on the floor and hesitated, his expression suddenly appearing nervous. His muscles tightened, and he narrowed his eyes at me for a beat. “I got something for you.”
“What?” My pulse raced again. “You getting us into that event was the highlight of my month, Christopher. Seriously.” I blushed, hard, and frowned as he pulled out something rectangle from his bag. “No. You don’t need to get me a thing.”
“I saw you eyeing this with a really sad expression on your face, and I figured…I wanted to give this to you as a thank-you.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“You’re my buddy teacher, and you remained positive even when I was acting like a shit. You also could’ve come here alone but wanted me to experience it. So please, take this. I want you to have it.” He held it out and waited for me to take it. It was heavy, and my throat got tight when I undid the very light layer of tissue paper.
Heather’s book sat in my hands with a signature in Sharpie on the cover. “It’ssigned?” I shouted, making a few people look over at us. “Oh my God!”
He grinned, wide, and nodded. “Sure is. You like it?”
It should not have made my eyes sting, but damn…I blinked back emotion and held the book tight against my chest. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Gilly. It’s my pleasure, really.”
I sighed, the need to tell him the truth right on the edge of my tongue when his phone went off and his expression tightened. He flexed his jaw and blew out a long breath. I didn’t want to pry, so I waited to see if he wanted to share whatever he just read.
He sipped his water and put his phone in his pocket. “That was Kayla. She is working on scholarship on a Saturday night instead of going out and being a dumb teenager like she should be.”
“Um, didn’t you say you hated when she was dumb and dated dangerous boys, Mr. Older Brother?”
“Yes,” he said, shaking his head when I called him out. “It’s just…my dad had this fund for her for college. About thirty thousand, which would be enough to help her out, get her started. Then he had this buddy start a business that my dad swore would make it. He wanted to get in on the ground up and invested all of it. All of it.” Christopher wiped his hands over his face. “He also did this without telling my mom or me. Dealing with that mess, seeing how desperate our family got…it turned me into this frugal, uptight person. I mean, I didn’t have to worry about college, but my sister? She’s so talented and deserves to have that option if she wants it. I can be an asshole about money sometimes. You might already know this.”
“Oh, I do,” I said, hoping my teasing tone would help the somewhat gloomy mood.
He gave me that half smile for a second. “He lost it all and tried to make up for it through other half-assed attempts at making lots of money fast. Hisbuddyturned out to be a con artist and is in jail for faking checks. I didn’t have to worry about this stuff when I was in high school, and I hate that Kayla has to. She has charts with all the scholarships she can apply for, like the left-handed one, but hey, a grand is a grand.”
“Wait—she wants to be a teacher, right?”
“Yes, why?”
“There’s this future-teacher scholarship the NHS does each year! It’s like three grand! We could get a last-minute application in if she does it, like first thing Monday.” I got my phone out and searched the URL with all the information and texted it to him. “She can totally apply. I’ll tell my best friend, who teaches her, to write a letter of recommendation.”
“How do you know about this?” he asked, his voice tight with excitement.
“I collect funds for it at our school. I worked with the NHS sponsors at the junior high and high school. The deadline was this weekend, but I can see if we can pull some strings, see if we can get it in Monday. It’s honestly one of my favorite projects. Teachers played such an important role to me growing up. My…uh…parents took us on these work trips all the time, like work all day and have a schedule, and I’d go to bed tired as hell, so school was my favorite thing in the world. Anyway, the winner last year got to visit my classroom for the day, and it was just the best. She’s kicking ass in college right now too.”
“This is awesome,” he said, his fingers flying over his phone. “I’m texting it to her right now. Thank you.”
“Of course. I’ll send any more your way if I find them.” I smiled and admired his love for his sister. The way he looked out for her reminded me of Fritz. “We can even work on the application together when we get back.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” I reached over and ran my fingers over his strong forearm and squeezed. “We could have a scholarship night. Put on music, eat, and write all the annoying introduction letters.”
His jaw tightened, and the look in his eyes sent a shiver all the way through my body. It wasn’t lust, but something more. Something that I couldn’t put a word on, but I felt it too—the fact that maybe we were good together.
Now I just have to tell him the truth about me.
Would it last?
Chapter Eighteen
“Iloveyour dress.Oh my God, and it has pockets?” Kayla said, two days later as she stood inside my classroom with her purple backpack hanging off her shoulder. She had the wide-eyed look of a teenager who still had their life ahead of them, and it made me smile.
