I grab my keys and head out to my truck. It’s almost the end of the school day and I want to see what Amy’s thoughts are about going to OKC for the gala. Ten minutes later, I pull into the school parking lot.
I don’t text.
I don’t call.
I know I don’t need to now. Still, it gives me a thrill to bound up the steps—two at a time—to know I’m going to hold her in my arms soon. After checking in at the front desk, I stride down the corridor to her classroom. I come up short when I stare at her behind her desk grading papers.
She’s smiling. Really smiling. The smile I’m determined to earn every single fucking day until I die.
Without knocking, I rasp, “Am I interrupting?”
Amy looks up. “What are you?—?”
“I need to talk with you.”
Her brows lower. “Is everything okay, Bren?”
Bren. Hearing the shortened version of my name from her lips shoots through me like energy drinks. It fuels the fire burning deep inside my soul to make certain she remains happy. I step fully into her class, closing the door behind me.
Her eyes sparkle with amusement. “Get whatever lascivious thoughts are in your mind out.”
I pout. “Not even a kiss?”
“That you can have. What we can’t do is christen my classroom.”
Now I feel challenged. “We can’t?”
“All it would take would be a student to walk in or the principal to walk by for my job to go poof.” She makes a fist and flips out her fingers.
I stalk forward slowly. “But I can kiss you.”
She gets up from behind her desk and meets me in front of it. “Hmm, yes. Only after you tell me what’s on your mind.”
I slip my arms around her waist and declare, “I love you.”
Her reply undoes me. “I love you, Bren. Now, spill it. Why did you drive down here? I was heading home in a few.”
I let her calling my house home settle deep inside before grazing my lips against her forehead. “It’s nothing bad. At least, I don’t think so.”
“Tell me.”
So I do. I explain the email I received, the intention of the charity.
Her breath stutters. “This is everything you’ve been working on here.”
“Pretty much,” I allow. “But there will be people in the room who can help us more than any strategy session with Coach Collins.”
“So you want to take him instead of me?” It comes out so matter-of-factly, I’m stunned.
“Of course not!” I explode. For just a moment I just stare down at her face before I really look. She’s trying not to be hurt, but I can see the wariness in her eyes. “I want you by my side for the whole night. If it were up to me, I’d take out a bloody ad in StellaNova to announce to the world who you are to me.”
“And who is that?”
“Mine,” my voice is savage. “I refuse to let you go. Ever again. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
“Then what are you here for? Why didn’t you just accept?” Her confusion is evident.
I rub the back of my neck before dropping my hand. Sheepishly, I admit, “I didn’t want to take us outside of Willow Creek in the eventyouweren’t ready.”
