Page 107 of How (Not) to Conjure a Boyfriend
Mr. Franz nods and moves to the counter. I look for a second more, watching the way he cups his hand on his daughter’s back at the register. It melts me, and for a moment, Christmas sort of feels like Christmas.
Ding, ding.
I rush behind the counter so Kaitlynn can finish helping Mr. Franz and I can go ahead and help whoever just walked in. I wipe my hands on my apron and look up. Immediately I freeze.
“Zach?” I say before thinking.
“Hey.” He grins, but he looks nervous with his hands balled up together.
“W-what are you…uh… doing here?” I finally get the words out, and I’m already wincing. That probably sounded so rude to Mr. Franz and his family.
“I, uh…I wanted to see you.” He steps closer and finally stops at the counter and puts his hand on the wooden top.
“Oh,” I say, unable to stop my lips from skewing off to the side and showing my anxiety at his mere presence.
What is happening? Why does hewant to see me?
“Maybe this isn—” I start, but Zachary literally puts his hand over mine and stops me. That familiar warmth shoots up my wrist and pulses to my brain, and I’m met with both a calm and fear I don’t know how to pull apart.
“Stop, Mackenzie,” he demands in the kindest tone, and I can’t help but listen. He gives me a crooked grin and starts up again. “Maybe thisisn’ta good idea, butthisismychoice.”
I’m unable and unwilling to argue, stuck in his gaze again. He pauses and looks into my soul for an eternity, or maybe it was a few seconds, I don’t know. I lose track of everything around me. It’s like the room melted away until he brings me back to reality.
“I’m sorry.”
“Excuse me? Wh—” I blurt, but he frowns at me and squeezes my hand, which manages to shut me up.
“Hold on. Give me a second,” Zach laughs. I shrink a little. My bad. He says it again and pauses before explaining. “I’m sorry. For the other night. I should have run after you. I shouldn’t have let you go without saying something.”
“Oh,” I say. I don’t know why I say it. I don’t even understand why he’s apologizing. Why would he have run after me? What I did was horrible. “Zach, no—”
His eyes pierce me, and I go silent. He drops his head and lets it bob a few times like he’s really thinking about what he wants to say next. When he looks back up, he locks his gray eyes on me, but they’re not what I expect. It’s not anger that occupies that steel gaze. There’s not a bit of malice in them, none. No. It’s kindness. Compassion. Warmth. That’s what I find instead, and somehow it seeps into my body and lights a little part of my heart all over again. I try to stop it, but it’s already there.
He grunts and inhales a massive breath like he’s about to blow into a trombone. I brace.Stay calm, Kenzie. Just listen and it’ll all be over soon.
“I love you, Mackenzie,” he says.
My chest falls, shoving all the air from my lungs, and my mouth gapes open. What did he just say? There’s no way. Absolutely no way that can be true. Eyes wide, I brace my gaze onto his beautiful eyes.You love me? How?
“I was sort of hoping you’d say something after that.” His voice shakes, and he laughs to cover some of the anxiety.
“I-I, uh…” I want to say it back, but this feels like a fantasy. I must have heard what I wanted to instead of what he really said. That’s it.
“I know you think we all hate you and don’t want anything to do with you, but that’s not true,” he says. “The others were shocked. Hayden was just excited he wasn’t losing his mind.”
“What?” I ask.
“Yeah, Eliza sat us all down afterward and told us everything. She said you’d been wanting to tell us, but she said to let her,” Zach fills me in, and it’s weirdly comforting. Maybe it’s just because it’s him, or maybe it’s just because it’s not the end of the world. Either way, somehow this is happening right now.
“Yeah,” I say, and look down at the counter.
“It’s okay though,” he says.
“I don’t understand. How is it okay? How is any of that okay?” I ask.
“You admitted it.” Zach shrugs.
“Like weeks after the fact, and after diving headlong into your family,” I remind him.
