Page 105 of The Lumberjack and the City Slicker

Who built art with his hands.

Who shoved me away because he panicked.

And came back anyway.

“I’m just…” I exhale. “Trying to decide if I’m brave enough to do this.”

His jaw tightens slightly. “Do what?”

“This.”

There. I said it.

The word hangs between us like a fragile ornament.

He doesn’t look away.

“I screwed up,” he says. “I know I did.”

“I know,” I reply gently.

“I was scared,” he continues. “You got under my skin fast. That’s not something I’m used to.”

“I don’t want to be someone you experiment bravery on,” I say quietly. “I’ve done something like that before. I was someone’s stepping stone.”

His eyes flash.

“You’re not that,” he says, immediate and fierce.

“I know I’m not,” I reply. “But I need to know you know that.”

The wind lifts my hair. The carnival music drifts faintly behind us.

He steps closer until our toes nearly touch.

“I know it, Trouble.”

“So, why this date? Why me?”

“Because I think we might be worth the risk.”

Chapter 21

Greyson

The spring carnival behind the middle school is exactly what you’d expect.

String lights. A small Ferris wheel. Booths with ring toss and balloon darts. The smell of fried dough and popcorn in the air.

Clara actually gasps as a juggler passes by.

“This is so wholesome,” she says, the serious moment we shared behind us now.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“No,” she laughs. “I just haven’t been to something like this in years.”

We walk slowly through the crowd.