“Yeah?” I can feel some of the tension fall away from him. “I couldn’t decide if that was way too much or not enough.”
“It was the perfect amount of everything, and also completely outrageous and over the top.” I stare at him in awe. “How did youdothis?”
“I told Nova about my idea first. She’s been pretty pissed at me, as I’m sure you know, but eventually she got on board when she heard what I was planning. Felix and Li agreed immediately. They’re loyal party members until the end. Then Li suggested I approach the rest of the color guard, which I wasn’t too sure about because, well, you know, but they were surprisingly open to it. They grilled me too, for sure, but I guess they liked all my answers because they dropped everything and came up with that choreography on their own.” He smiles softly. “And the others out there are friends. The percussion players thought it’d be a nice gesture to performwith the guard, even though it’s not exactly the performance we agreed on. But they’re on better terms now. Obviously not all of percussion were willing to join, but…”
“You can’t win them all.”
Vaguely, I’m aware that no one else has left the field or stands. They’re all staring at us and murmuring.
“That’s a lot of eyes on us,” I whisper.
He cringes. “I know, I was worried about this part. Do you want to go somewhere? Maybe we could talk and—”
“Max!” one of the guard members—I can’t tell who, but I’m thinking Addison—screams at the top of her lungs. “Tell her you love her!”
I freeze in horror. My eyes lock onto his.
“Omigod,” I say. “That’s so embarrassing, you don’t—”
“Hazel.” His hands tentatively lift to either side of my face. I expect him to look twitchy from the huge crowd around us, but he’s unruffled. His fingers are warm on my jaw, and I’m absolute putty in his hands. “Of courseI love you. I’ve been borderline obsessed with winning you over ever since we played that stupid Glare game in band and you wouldn’t look at me.”
My legs feel so weak that he might be holding me up at this point. “But…you said that was your strategy for winning?”
“I didn’t have a strategy—I just couldn’t look away.” His thumb grazes the tender bit of skin right beneath my ear and shivers roll down my spine. “I needed you to look back at me. Just once. And then you did.”
“There’s no way that’s true. You’d never voluntarily lose a game against me.”
Max’s hands slide down my neck. “Thatwasme winning.”
I swallow down the threat of tears.
“You’re my best friend. There’s no one else who gets me like you do,” he whispers. “There’s no one I’d rather spend time with, or fight with, or lose a bet to. I’ll go up to every person here and tell them the same thing if that’s what you want. I’ve been a huge idiot and I’m so sorry for hurting you. I know I don’t deserve your trust.” He leans his forehead against mine. “But I’m so in love with you. I’ll do anything to get you back.”
“Max,” I breathe. “I love you too. So much. I’ve been absolutely miserable without you.”
“You have?”
“Yes,” I whisper. “Nothing in my life is as good without you in it. But you need to do something for me.”
He pulls away from me, his forehead furrowed in concern. “Anything.”
“Will youpleasekiss me now?” I give him a pleading look. “I’m dying here.”
He laughs, the sound sharp and bright. “I’ve never been happier to do anything in my life.”
Then he dips me backward with a flourish. I can feel the smile on his lips when they press against my own. Shouts and hoots of delight reverberate around us.
For the first time ever, we’re both winning at the end of a band performance.
Chapter Thirty-Six
When Max and I step off the band bus together at the state competition, I’m relieved to find we have perfect weather. It’s the kind of fall day that everyone wishes for and hardly ever gets—crisp without being cold, blue skies and sunny without sweating through our costumes, and no wind. I’m taking it as a sign from the universe that today is going to be a good day.
“We’re finally here, huh?” Max says and takes my hand inhis.
We basically haven’t stopped touching since we kissed on the football field yesterday afternoon. Everyone was surprisingly cool with us blowing them off and going out by ourselves Friday night. We went out for nachos, because of course we did, and I got to eat more than my share because I kept peppering Max with questions about how that performance came together. But we also never stopped holding hands across the booth. We werethose peopleand I was totallyfine with it. Luckily, eating nachos with one hand isn’t too difficult.
I lean into his side. “We’re almost done with marching band. Forever.”
