Page 76 of Tony

He blushes and looks down at his boots.

“And two points for dropping me off at work.”

“So… one thousand, five hundred and forty points. I need the denominator, toots. I need to know how high I should aim.”

“You lose ten points for calling me toots.”

He laughs. “That’s not fair. I really like calling you toots. I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you all the points if you let me call you toots.”

“I’m not the one earning points today.”

He cocks his head at me. “You sure about that?”

I tsk my tongue. “Anyway. Veronica pushed me over the edge no matter what. She likes me.”

“Just let me call you toots. I have to call you something.”

“You can call me Belinda.”

“I do call you Belinda. But…” He leans forward so none of the people on the sidewalk can hear him, and he whispers, “That’s not even your real name. So what do you care if I call you toots?”

Hmm. He’s got a point there. “Fine. You can call me toots. Just don’t call me Rosalinda.”

“Ew. That’s a deal.”

“Tony calls me Rosalinda,” I say. “I hate it.”

“Because it’s his nickname for you?” Vann asks. “Or because it’s confusing?”

“It’s not confusing.”

“No?”

“No. It’s just… stupid.”

“OK.” He puts up both hands in surrender. Then a wild grin fills his face. “I win. So I’m done arguing. So the tally? I’m up to one thousand five hundred and forty. Did I pass the threshold yet? At least tell me if I’m getting close.”

“You’re close. But not there yet.” I try not to smile at him. Or blush. But I don’t succeed in either of those areas. “Let’s call it out of eighteen hundred.”

“So I’m a solid B-plus at the moment.”

“A solid B-plus. For sure.”

He reaches for me, takes both my hands, and then gently urges me to take a few steps forward until my body is positioned between his legs. He lets go of my hands and slides his hands onto my hips, hooking them through my belt loops. Even though he’s sitting, we’re almost eye level and I can’t stop myself from gazing into his eyes.

He sighs. “Well.” Pauses. “I give you all the points, Belinda Baker. Plus a cherry on top for being spontaneous with me this morning and extra credit for agreeing to babysit with me on Monday.”

“Hey!” I laugh. “I never agreed to that!”

His hands come up to my face and he holds them there against my cheeks, his blue eyes hooded now as he gazes back at me. I can see a reflection of myself in his dark pupils. He leans forward, like he’s going to kiss me, but then stops short just before our lips touch.

I erase that small distance between us and kiss him.

There’s no tongue. There’s no moaning or anything like that.

It’s just a sweet, sweet kiss from a boy who finally got his chance.

I pull away first and find him grinning at me. “I’m going to make some beautiful ink art today, Belinda. And you know why?”