Page 95 of Clichés & Curses

I furrowed my eyebrows at him. ‘Buy me a house? Why would you?’ I trailed off.

And then, it hit me.

You Deserve Each Other. My favourite romance book. The scene where Nicholas bought Naomi a house to save their relationship.

My eyes widened in realization.

He couldn’t have.

‘Did you read the book?’ I voiced out. ‘You Deserve Each Other?’

He gave me a nod. ‘I did.’

‘But why would you read a romance book?’

‘Because it’s your favourite book,’ he simply answered, as if that was reason enough. And maybe for Colton, it really was.

From all the months I got to know him, Colton had only ever been straightforward with me: telling me exactly what was on his mind, leaving me no room to doubt him.

I knew that I didn’t owe Colton anything, even if he did read my all-time favourite book. I could still say no to his date offer, if I wanted to.

But I did owe it to myself to see where this thing with him could lead, if I stopped letting this fear hold me back.

I was scared; I continued to be. And I knew overcoming that wasn’t going to happen in a snap of a finger.

But as my eyes looked at Colton, his gaze locked in mine with his heart on his sleeve. I felt a spark of something else lighting within me.

It was the desire, the want, the longing to experience all those romantic notions I had read about in all the romance books. And not just with anyone, but with Colton.

The boy who continuously insisted on driving me home whenever he could. The boy who had ABBA CDs in his car, because it brought back good memories. The boy who brought me flowers and bubble tea. The boy who could make me laugh, and with whom, I could share a comfortable silence.

I knew the fear would linger, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t coexist with desire.

And while I had already decided with my whole heart to give Colton a chance, I couldn’t help but need one final nudge. Only this time, it was from Colton himself.

‘So, what do you say?’ he asked, breaking off my inner turmoil. ‘Go on a date with me?’

‘I will,’ I answered him, before quickly adding, ‘but on one condition.’

A twinkle of mischief appeared in his eyes, recognizing the times he had uttered the same words to me, asking me to put my trust in him. ‘And what’s that?’

‘Hit a home run for me,’ I stated, ‘at tomorrow’s game.’

A beaming smile broke on his face once he heard what I said. As he repeated the same words he had texted me the last time he promised to do the same thing, he said, ‘Hit a home run for you? You got it, partner.’

Chapter Twenty

Saturday evening came around a bit too slow for my liking, or maybe that was just my excitement over finally getting to watch a live baseball game again.

But it might have more to do with the fact that a certain boy was playing later.

Either way, I had spent the whole day running errands. From getting groceries to taking out the trash, I did anything I could to distract myself from how mind-numbingly slow time was moving.

Heck, I even managed to finishBringing Down the Duke,and I was already a quarter into a new book.

Eventually, the anticipated event was starting in a few hours, and I couldfinallystart getting ready at a reasonable time.

For a minute I thought about dressing up for that day’s game, just because it was the first and only home game that semester. No other reason. But in hindsight, I decided to prioritize comfort, if we were going to be there for at least a few hours.

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