Page 71 of The Love You Win

“Anything for our favorite teacher,” Logan drawls, earning the attention of a few of my female coworkers. The looks they give him make it crystal clear that they’d happily sign up for a chance to be his favorite teacher. Yeah. I’m going to be fending off requests to set them up with Logan for the rest of the week.

It’s difficult to tear myself away from Maddox, but my students get rowdy, and I need them lined up so they can pick up their new backpacks on the way back to class.

“All right! I want my class lined up and calm, or I’m switching our next book to something long and dry. I can think of a few really pretentious books that you guys would just love.” A chorus of groans fills the air as they line up and quiet down. “Aw, come on, people. You don’t want to read War and Peace or something?”

“Ms. Harding. No.” One of my students shakes his head vehemently. “We’re all excited to read Fahrenheit 451.”

“Okay,” I say with a smirk. “Then line up.”

“Ms. Harding?” Chris, one of my quieter students, raises his hand. “Are you really friends with all of those Rogues players?” His eyes dart to the guys, who are now all signing things and shaking hands with the students as they wait in line to get their backpacks.

“Well, I don’t know all of them very well, but I’m friends with a few of them.”

“You totally are dating the big one, aren’t you?” A few of the girls giggle when my student, Carissa, asks that.

I try to hide my grin, my eyes instinctively darting to Maddox. He meets my gaze with a blinding smile, and I hope I’m not blushing like an idiot. It wouldn’t be very teacherly. “Guys, you know it’s not appropriate to talk about my dating life with you.”

“That means yes,” one of the other students says.

Carissa nods. “Oh, for sure.”

It takes all of my self-restraint not to confirm their suspicions. After everything Maddox did today, I want to shout it from the rooftops that I’m seeing him. That this incredibly selfless, sweet man somehow wants me. I want things with us to be official.

But I do what any good teacher would do in this situation. I roll my eyes at my students and pretend I’m completely celibate.

Maddox waits for me in the parking lot when I finally leave for the day. I have plenty of time to admire his tall, muscular figure leaning against his car as I walk his way. He’s backlit, the sun haloing him in the warmth of its late-summer rays, and god, is he a thing of beauty. I’ve never been so attracted to a man. But the best part of that attraction is that his personality and character are just as beautiful as his appearance.

If only I met him before Alex. Before I was broken. I wish my walls weren’t so thick because Alex’s casually cruel words hit their mark again and again. Some part of me may always wait for the other shoe to drop, but after what he did today? I’m all in. And I’m going to tell him so.

“Hey, baby, how was the rest of your day?” Maddox scoops me up in a hug as soon as I’m close enough. My feet dangle above the ground, and he chuckles at the squeak that escapes my lips. He makes me feel small and protected, but not in a weird controlling way, and I melt into his hold. Then he’s kissing me and my brain short circuits. The kiss is soft and sweet, but there’s heat behind it. If we weren’t in the parking lot of my school and if there wasn’t the possibility of someone seeing, I’d be shamelessly grinding myself against the hard length I feel between us, pressing against the jeans he’s changed into. Instead, we break the kiss and he presses his forehead to mine. We’re both breathing hard, and I have to remind myself that he asked me a question.

“My day was amazing, thanks to you and the guys.” I pull back an inch so I can look him in the eyes. “I can’t believe you did that for all of those kids, Maddox.” My throat tightens, and I have to clear it. “That was so far above and beyond what I asked you to do.”

A slow, sweet smile curves his lips as he brushes a hair from my face. “I was those kids, once. And when I told the guys and the team my ideas, it all snowballed from there. But I also know how important those kids are to you, and I wanted to show you how important you are to me.”

His last words are soft and adorably hesitant. It’s as though he’s not sure how I’ll react to his confession. Which is crazy, because I’m glowing inside. His words are a ball of light that fills my chest and dispels the shadows that have lurked there for far too long.

I don’t know what the future holds for us, but I want to find out. I’m all in.

“Maddox?”

He brushes his thumb along my cheekbone. “Hmm?”

“You’re important to me too, and I… I’m not seeing anyone else and I don’t want to, and I was just wondering… Well, I was hoping you…” Ugh. Eloquent as always, Isla. I scrunch my nose up and press my lips together. Why is it so hard to tell him I want us to be exclusive? That I want to introduce him as my boyfriend and hold his hand in public without wondering what he thinks we are.

Maddox’s face melts into a blinding smile and he flips our position so my back presses against his SUV and his strong arms cage me in. His thumb smooths out the wrinkle between my eyebrows as his eyes dance. The sun makes them sparkle. “Isla Harding, are you asking me to be your boyfriend?”

God, when he says it like that, his tone all teasing and his lips quirked to the side, I want to melt into a puddle and disappear. Because it sounds lame. But yeah. That is what I’m asking. Or would be, if I wasn’t such an awkward potato.

“Ugh.” I let my head flop forward to rest on his broad chest. He smells so good I just burrow in. This can be my home now. I’ll happily die from embarrassment by smothering myself between Maddox’s pecs. “Yes,” I mumble. His hoodie and body muffle the words. “Yes, I want you to be my boyfriend.”

Maddox chuckles, the laugh vibrating through his body and tickling my nose. “Isla.” He presses a knuckle beneath my chin, urging me to look at him. I grumble out an unintelligible sound and burrow further into him, which earns another laugh. “Isla. Baby. Would you look at me?”

Reluctantly, I do. I expect Maddox to roll his eyes at me or look exasperated. After all, those are the kinds of reactions I’m used to when I do or say something less than perfect.

But Maddox meets my gaze with such a soft, tender expression. “I’ve wanted to ask you to be my girlfriend since our do-over date, but I didn’t want to freak you out.”

“Really?”

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