Page 31 of Checking All Her Notes
“Can’t prove it.”
“You let me win.”
“Maybe I just wanted to see you smile.” He skates closer. “Did it work?”
“You’re impossible.”
“You let me kiss you?”
“Not yet.”
We’re grinning at each other. The moment stretches. Perfect and impossible and exactly right.
“Now?” he asks.
“Maybe.”
He closes the distance. Kisses me soft and sweet. When he pulls back, his eyes are bright.
“Worth losing for,” he murmurs.
We make our way back to the blanket, settling in with fresh cocoa. My cheeks are red from cold and laughing. His hair is a mess from his hat. We’re both slightly breathless.
“I was terrified,” he says suddenly.
I look at him. “Of what?”
“That I’d mess this up before we even got started. That I’d go back to shutting everyone out and you’d give up on me.”
My chest tightens. “I wouldn’t have.”
“I know that now.” He takes my hand, threading our fingers together. “You’re good for me. You make the noise stop.”
“The noise?”
“In my head. All the doubts and fears and things I think I’m not good enough for.” He looks at me. “With you, it’s just quiet. Good quiet.”
I lean into him, resting my head on his shoulder. “You’re good for me too. You make the quiet feel full.”
“That’s very poetic.”
“I have my moments.”
We sit like that for a while. Just breathing. Just being.
Then I add, “Also, you’re nice to look at.”
He laughs. “You too, Bruiser.”
I lift my head. “Excuse me?”
“What? Can’t I have a nickname for you?”
“That’s my nickname for you!”
“Sharing is caring.”
“That doesn’t even make sense as a nickname for me.”
