Page 20 of Choosing a Forever
With a tight nod, she ducks into her car. I step back as she starts it and pulls out of the parking space, waving as she drives away.
This isn’t the last time I’ll see her.
I’m not even remotely close to satisfied when it comes to all things Mackenzie Thorpe.
Chapter 7
Mackenzie
14 years old…
The minute I’m in my room, I rip the newspaper off of the gift Tal gave me.
Inside is a composition notebook, “Firefly” written in swooping, swirling letters on the front.
I open the front page and grin when I see his neat scrawl.
Merry Christmas! I hope you get what you asked for.
I know my wish has already come true by being your friend.
I can’t wait to see you again.
Love,
Tal
Talmage is too sweet. My nose scrunches at the word “friend” because it doesn’t feel like we’re just friends. I don’t know what we are, since all we’ve done is hold hands, butfriendsdoesn't feel like a strong enough word.
I love him. Maybe it’s puppy love or whatever adults say when you talk about your crush, but this feels like so much more than a simple crush or friendship. Tal’s becomemy best friend, the boy I’m in love with. Someone I can’t imagine a future without.
I turn to the next page, and my breath catches in my throat as I take in the sketch of us. Me, in a flowing gown with a tiara on my head, and Tal in a suit of armor. Even in the picture, he’s looking at my character like she’s precious.
I can’t wait to see him after the break.
I truly thought after the awkward lunch with Talmage, he’d be done with whatever… reunion thing he was so adamant about, but no.
The man won’t stop texting me. Not in a creepy way, but in a “hey, we were best friends and at one point dated, and I want to be friends again” way.
And I don’t… hate it.
I hate that I don’t hate it.
I hate that I want to let him back in. I hate that I want to confide in him and tell him everything about my day.
I don’t want to long for the attention of my first love, but the teenager in me already has “Mrs. Talmage Monson” scrawled on her notebooks again. She’s already started wondering what a wedding would look like and then pouted when I had to remind both of us this isTalmage.
Mormon golden boy and fireman heartthrob. Out of my league and too sweet for someone as jaded and broken as me.
Which is another reason I don’t understand why he’s so adamant about hanging out again. What could he possibly want with a burned-out, overworked guardian of teens?
A week has passed since our lunch, and he still texts me almost daily. He wanted to hang out today, which I thought was strange since it’s Sunday, but I have another shift at the bar, so I had to decline.
Walking into Great and Spacious, my phone pings again.
Talmage:Hope you have a good shift! Let me know when you get home so I know you’re safe.
Mackenzie:Thanks. Will do.
