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That was a challenge I’d never turn down. “Well, then I guess I’ll never stop kissing you.”
Then it happened. Una smiled. It was the most beautiful thing. Mainly because she meant it for me.
“Moving on…” she said, tipping her head down and staring at the floor.
I reached up and lifted her chin with my forefinger, making her look me in the eye. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
I waited a beat, not sure how to phrase what I wanted to say without ruining the moment.
“For fulfilling my contract. I guess I owe you payment now?” I said lightly, still holding on to one of her hands and her face. I slid my hand to the side, cupping her cheek and brushing my thumb over it.
She closed her eyes briefly, allowing herself to be caught in the moment. Allowing herself to fall freely.
For me.
The goal of my contract was to make Una believe in love. By falling for me, it proved she was not only capable, but willing. Whatever it was she saw in me showed her the many sides of love—the good and the bad. The overthinking, the racing heart, the worry, the smiles, the laughs, all of it.
She not only learned to love, but to let herself be vulnerable. The Una from a few weeks ago would never have pulled me into a classroom to tell me she was freaking out. The Una from before wouldn’t have had a conversation where she told me such personal things. That Una wouldn’t be here, admitting that a kiss helped calm her mind, and asked me to do it again.
But this new Una, the Una she became with me, would. This Una learned what relying on another person felt like. This Una handed her heart to me, expecting it to be protected against all costs.
And I would shield it with everything I had. It took a lot to get her to open up. It was a challenge to get her to trust me, to believe in me, to love me. I would never take that for granted and I would never let her get hurt.
“Pay me by winning the game so I don’t have to listen to Dad moan and groan,” she answered after a moment’s thought.
The warning bell rang, meaning we only had a few minutes to get to class. People would line the hallway soon, but thankfully this was a middle classroom, meaning it had exits in two separate locations. We could go different ways and not get caught.
“Deal,” I said with a smile. It seemed too easy of a payment, but Una got what Una wanted.
I just had to make sure I could focus well enough to uphold the promise. But after this? After right now? It didn’t seem like a problem.
I started to pull away, but before I got too far, she yanked back on my arm, spinning me toward her.
“You can also pay in these,” she said, before laying her lips on mine and kissing me one more time.
Chapter 27
Una
Dad hurried outof the house early this morning in a frenzy. He kept muttering stats to himself, he forgot important papers at least three times, and his shoes another time.
As soon as he was gone, I knew what I had to do. What I needed to do in order to ease my crazy mind. And to help Charlie.
We texted last night, before it got too late. I all but forced him to stop talking and get some sleep. He couldn’t show up to playoffs today restless. He had to be at the top of his game and laser focused.
The one thing we both realized yesterday when I pulled him into that classroom was that being around each other eased our minds. And our bodies. Just seeing each other, a simple touch of the hand, helped calm me down from the anxious spiral I had been on most of the week.
It was something I hadn’t experienced before and didn’t even realize it was a thing until it happened. All I knew was that texting hadn’t been enough. That day Charlie got into my car and just the scent of him calmed me instantly was my first clue. Pulling him into the classroom and holding his hand was the kicker. As soon as I touched him, a wave of relief washed over me. I had never felt such an overwhelming sense of calm before.
I knew exactly what to do today. I would try to stay hidden, but I had to be at that game.
He didn’t ask me to go. At first, I was upset about it. But that feeling didn’t last long when I realized why he didn’t say anything. Going to the game would be a massive clue to people who were still hung up on the Fairy Godmother’s post about me having a crush.
Though the way I looked at it, all I had to do was say I was cheering Dad on. It would make perfect sense now that everyone knew I was his daughter.
No one besides Charlie had to know why I was there.
