Page 75 of Hard Count
Holding the photo close to my chest, I say, “I had a thing for you since the first time I saw you too.” I pass him the photo of my dad, Nash, and his parents when he got his offer from Newhouse.
“I have this photo in an album at my parents’ house.”
“I know. Have you ever looked at it closely?”
He shakes his head as he brings the photo closer to his face and his eyes widen. “You were there.”
Nodding, I sit on his thigh and wrap my arm around his shoulder. “Do you see the way I’m looking at you? That's how you know someone likes you. It's always in the eyes because they can't lie. I liked you then but I’m in love with you now. Over the last few months you taught me to believe in a lot of things again. One of them being me. But the most importantthing is love. I believe in love again because I love you, Nash Pierce.”
He drops his head against my chest and wraps his arms around me, breathing me in. “I love you so much, baby. I’m going to do everything I can to make you happy.”
I cup his face in my hands. “You do it every day by existing.” I press my lips against his and let him feel all the love I have for him.
“Before we get too carried away, I do have some more gifts for you.”
“You really shouldn’t have. You’re spoiling me,” I say when he drops three packages into my lap. “I could get used to this.”
“Good.” He tightens his hold on my legs, pulling me closer to him in the process. “Open that one first.” He points to a rectangle box.
I rip into the paper and remove the lid. Inside is a stack of my favorite anime series. I flip through a few of the pages. We’ve been watching it online but it’s not the same as the manga version. “I love it. Thank you.” I kiss his cheek and put the present to the side.
“You’re welcome.” He squeezes my thigh.
“Does it matter which one I open next?” I ask, looking at two small square boxes.
“I don’t remember which one is which,” he says, making me laugh.
“This one.” I snatch the box on the left and start ripping off the paper revealing a blue velvet box. I pop open the lid andimmediately get emotional seeing the small football and fox charms inside.
“It’s for your bracelet. It’s meant for charms, right?”
I nod. “It is. I got the bracelet as a Christmas gift. It was our last holiday as a family.” I take off my bracelet and add the new charms. “They said they would buy me a new charm every year but it never happened.” I added it to the pile of broken promises they left me with.
“I’m going to. Everything we do, big or small, we’ll remember it with a charm. Open your last one.” He bites down on his lip nervously as I remove the wrapping paper from another velvet box. I lift the lid to reveal a gold heart charm with aNand aPengraved on it. “Since you won’t get a tattoo. Yet,” he adds with a smirk.
I add the heart charm next to the football one. “I love you but I’m not ever getting your name tattooed on my body.”
He takes the bracelet and my wrist in his hands when he sees me struggling with the clasp. “I like hearing you say that.” My skin tickles when he adjusts my bracelet so his charms are resting on the top part of my wrist.
“What? That I won’t get a tattoo?” I tease. I know exactly what he likes hearing because I like saying it.
“No. That you love me.” He scoops me off the couch and shuffles me onto his lap again. “I got myself one too. I’ve worn this necklace everyday since I got it on my fourteenth birthday. I thought it was cool and all my friends had one. But now”—he fishes the chain out from under his shirt—“I’ll wearit for you.”
Nash’s bare gold chain now has a heart charm attached to it. “You have my name on one side and yours on the other.” I flip the heart back and forth reading ‘Drew’ and ‘Pierce’ on either side.
“We can go with that if you want.” He pops a kiss between my eyebrows where they are scrunched together.
“What does it really mean?”
“It means…” He tightens his arms around me. I drop my head against his and we both look at the charm I’m holding between my fingers. “That one day Pierce will be your last name too. Should we have cake and you can make a wish?”
"I think all my wishes have already come true."
24
COACH PRESCOTT
NEWHOUSE 14-1
