God, I missed her.
“Did you have fun?” she asks.
I nod. “It was good to have everybody together. And me and Alex talked.”
I can see in the way she relaxes, like she’s been worried about him too. The way she clearly cares for Alex makes my feelings for her so much more.
Especiallyafter my talk with him.
I step closer, enough that I could kiss her if I leaned down. But instead, I reach for her hand, my thumb tracing over her knuckles.
There’s something I gotta do.
“Iris—” I start, then pause, my mouth going dry while she looks up at me with this adorable, confused face, and I don’t blame her. I sound serious as hell.
“I’ve been wanting to ask you something,” I start, “Been wanting to ask for a while now.”
“What is it?”
“I know we haven’t been seeing each other that long,” I say, stumbling, ‘cause I’m not used to feeling this damn nervous. “But I don’t wanna see anybody else. Don’t want you seeing anybody else.” I lift her hand, pressing a slow kiss to the backof it.
“I want you to be my girlfriend.”
I almost think she’s gonna say no when her face turns to pure shock, and she doesn’t say anything for a second too long.
“Nate…” She starts, and I brace myself, but. “I would love that.”
Relief floods through me as I cup her face, thumbs brushing over the warm flush on her cheeks. “You sure?”
“I’ve been sure.” Her hands come up to hold my face. “Since you danced with me.”
And then she’s leaning in, standing on her toes.
I meet her lips halfway.
I wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her in closer, feeling the shape of her body melt into me, as the tender kiss begins to heat up.
Her hands slide up into my hair, fingertips curling, and I let out a groan in return.
When we finally pull away, before we take things too far, we’re both breathing harder than we should be. “Guess that makes it official, huh?”
“Yeah. Official.”
Iris
It’s freezing.
And I never thought I would say this, but I’m excited about a football game.
It’s the last game of the season, thestate championship.
I spot Nate immediately, standing on the sidelines in his red polo, sleeves rolled up, talking to the other team’s coach.
He looks…reallyhot.
I clear my throat, looking around like someone might catch me staring at my boyfriend with googly eyes. The game’s about to start. I should go find Alex.
But when Nate sees me, his face lights up.
