Page 45 of The Perfect Catch

Her eyes searched my face for several seconds, and she reached forward, tucking some hair behind my ear. “And where do you suggest we start?”

I blew out a breath, surprised that she was actually listening to me on this. “I don’t want to study business or be a lawyer. I want to study art or graphic design. Those are the things that I love, and I haven’t been doing enough of them. I just want to make sure I’m living my own life, not the one you’ve picked out for me to shield me from what could happen in the future.”

“But I wasn’t doing that,” my mom said, looking like I’d just slapped her. The urge to take it all back crept up as the people pleaser in me tried to take over again.

“But that’s how it feels. I get why you did it, but I’m telling you now that I don’t want to do it anymore. I’ll keep one or two volunteer activities, but I need to have some time to spend with my friends, to go do things that normal teenagers do. I’ll be an adult soon enough.”

For the first time in several years, I saw my mom’s eyes water, and she sniffed, glancing away. “You’re right. You only get to be a teenager once, and I’ve been trying to heap responsibilities on you as though I could take away all the pain I went through when I lost your dad.”

She pulled me in for a hug again, and this time it felt like it did before my father died, the comfort of a safe place where I didn’t have to have my guard up all the time, worrying about what I said or did around her.

Pulling back enough to see her face, I said, “Mom, I really like Dax. I might even be falling in love with him.” I raised a finger when she opened her mouth. “I know I might not exactly know what love is, but after everything I’ve learned about him, he’s one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. He’d do anything for his siblings and his family, and he’s smarter than I am at math and science. Will you just let me see how things go?”

She ran her fingers through my hair and then mumbled against the top of my head, “I think I can do that.”

“Did you really mean that?” a deep voice behind me asked.

I let go of my mom and turned to find Dax standing a few feet from us, his hands in his pants pockets and looking more vulnerable than I’d ever seen him. He didn’t appear to have any bruises or cuts like the last fight.

“Mean what?” I asked softer than I expected.

“What you just told your mom. That you like me?” The corners of his mouth twitched as if he was more nervous than I’d been to tell my mother all that.

I stepped away from my mom and walked closer to him. “Yes, I meant it all.”

My mom walked forward, her attention on Dax. “I’m sorry I judged you unfairly. I knew your mother, and she was a great woman. I should’ve known she would’ve raised someone as amazing as you. Thank you for defending my daughter. It was my fault she was with him Friday night to begin with. She didn’t want to go.”

Dax swallowed and nodded, looking as though he couldn’t get the words out. He finally choked out, “I’d do it again, ma’am.”

My mom waved and then walked away down the hall, leaving the two of us standing in the empty hallway.

Dax reached forward and took my hands, causing the most intense shock to pass through my body. He must have felt it too because we chuckled together.

“Kate Adams, I’ve liked you for a long time, and I guess I didn’t tell you about the kiss because I wanted to hold on to some twisted fairy tale that you could like me back. I’ve always been afraid of being rejected, that I wouldn’t be good enough for anyone, and I knew that even if you couldn’t be with me, I didn’t want anyone to ruin your reputation.”

I slid my arms around his waist and leaned my head on his chest. “And that’s why I like you so dang much, Daxton Stratton. You have honor that no one ever gives you credit for. Social status and reputation are the last things on my mind because I know the you behind all the rumors. All I want is to be happy.” I paused for several seconds and then looked up at him. “So, Masked Kisser, do you want to be my boyfriend?”

The widest grin I’d ever seen crossed his face, and he laughed. “Yes, I do. More than I’ve wanted anything in a long time.”

He dipped his head down and captured my lips with his, that same energy from the party last spring even stronger this time around. The bell rang, and students milled around us, oohing and aahing.

Dax pulled back and leaned his forehead against mine. “We should probably get out of the way.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him back down for another kiss. “Nah, I’ve been waiting a long time for this.”

Epilogue

Dax

It was spring, and it seemed like my life had changed so much over the past six months. Kate was the best thing that had ever happened to me, and I knew I always had her in my corner.

When I first introduced her to my dad, I saw a hint of the old guy he’d been while my mother was alive, and he’d only improved since then. He’d taken a local trucking job so he could be home whenever the kids got home from school, and we did a lot more together. Noni was still alive and doing well, one of the things I’d hoped for since Mr. McKee allowed me to stay enrolled at Rosemont High.

Kate’s mother changed a lot as well, allowing Kate to pursue some graphic design classes the local college offered online. She also warmed up to me, liking the fact that I could reach things she couldn’t when her husband wasn’t around.

And here I stood in the hall of the high school, dressed in a cap and gown, waiting for them to call out my name. I walked along the stage as my name came across the speakers, shaking hands and accepting my diploma from Mr. McKee.

“Well done, Dax. I’m sure your grandmother is proud.”

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