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His grin slips into something of concern, and he walks toward me. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I got your phone.” I set the device in his hand and step away. “You have a picture of me in your locker.”
“Oh.” Dallas rubs the back of his neck, and the chain of my necklace sneaks out from under the collar of his plain white shirt. “Yeah. I do.”
“Why?”
“Why?” He laughs, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Because you and June are my favorite people, and I like looking at y’all before I take the field. Because it’s my reminder that even when things go to shit out there—like tonight—I get to come home to you. To her. And everything else doesn’t really matter.”
“How—” I swallow again, and the question is heavy in my throat. “How long have you had it up?”
“I hung it the day after the art room. After I touched you. After I kissed you. After I realized that no matter how hard I tried to fight it, I was never going to be able to stay away from you.”
“And if someone saw it?”
Dallas shrugs, unbothered. “I’d tell them the truth. That I’m falling for you.”
“What about the rules?”
“Fuck the rules.”
I choke on a laugh and close the distance between us. I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him. His tongue runs along my lips and I part my mouth, opening for him. He groans when I sink my teeth into his bottom lip, and it’s like he’s been waiting for this moment all day.
Falling for me.
God, I’m not just falling for him.
I’m jumping.Leaping. Willingly and hopefully. He’s carved out a part of my heart, and if he were to walk away tomorrow, he’d have it forever. I’d never get it back.
I love you.
I feel it in the center of my chest when he looks at me.
I feel it when we’re on the couch and he uses my hair to practice his braiding skills, wanting to get the hairstyles June asks for right.
I feel it when we’re in crowded spaces and he finds a way to touch me. To let me know he’s there.
I feel it on the field during a game. Seventy thousand people, and he always finds me.
I’ve never said those three words before, but with Dallas, I’d scream them. I’d yell them from the mountaintops so everyone could hear.
“I’m falling for you, too,” I whisper, and his lips pull into a smile.
It’s a beautiful thing, and I feel it when he does that too. When he kisses me like he’ll never get another chance.
“One day, my locker will be covered in photos of you and me. And June.”
“Like Sam and his dog.”
“Exactly like Sam and his dog,” Dallas chuckles. “We should go. I don’t want June to wake up and think we left her.”
“It’s probably best to avoid any traumatic experiences.”
His palms fall from my face, and he threads his hand through mine. He’s warm and soft. The most sure thing in the world.
“Let’s go home, honey,” he says, and his thumb strokes across my knuckles.
I imagine photos of us over the fireplace. A couple frames on my bookshelf. A wedding dress, maybe, and a couple of kids, too.
