Page 39 of Almost Yours
Possibly feral.
Yeah, okay. Fair.
But underneath the jokes, there’s this ache for everything we never got to be. The times I looked but never reached. The prom we didn’t go to, the homecoming game we didn’t sneak away from early. All the firsts we never had.
I want a do-over.
Me:
We’ve never had a first date.
I hesitate for half a second, then fire off another.
Me:
I think we should fix that. You, me, cheap arcade tokens, and a pizza slice the size of your head.
I wait, staring at the screen, watching the three dots appear and disappear twice before her response finally comes through.
Violet:
Arcade tokens? That’s your big move?
I can’t help but grin. She’s making me work for it, not giving an inch. I’d expect nothing less. Hell, I want it that way.
Me:
It’s a timeless classic. Competition and those questionable carpets that haven’t been cleaned since the 90’s. Romance.
Me:
I’ll even let you win. First time only.
She doesn’t answer right away. Long enough for doubt to creep in, like it always does where she’s concerned. Then her name lights up my screen again.
Violet:
You won’t have to. I’m freakishly good at air hockey.
I let out a laugh that echoes around the empty lot. God, I missed this. Missed her.
Me:
So that’s a yes?
A full minute ticks by. Then?—
Violet:
Yeah. That’s a yes.
My shoulders relax for the first time in days. I don’t care how sweaty or gross I am. I feel like I could bench press the entire damn truck right now.
She doesn’t know what last night on the porch did to me. Sitting next to her in the dark, the air between us thick with tension—I swear, it damn near broke me.
I told her it was killing me not to kiss her. Itwas. Still is.
And the way she looked at me then…like she wanted to believe me but didn’t know how?
