Page 126 of The ABCs of You & Me

There’s a knock on the door.

“Come in,” I call, a stupid smile plastered to my face.

“Hey,” Foster says, slipping in.

I’m up and wrapped around him in seconds. I can’t help myself, seeing him right now is the cherry on top of the last twenty minutes.

His arms tighten around me and I get a little lost in the feel and smell of him. “Did you enjoy the show today?” he asks when he drops his arms and steps back.

“What show?”

“The one starring me and Debra Donahue.”

“How did you know? You never even looked up.”

He pulls me back in, his lips coming to rest near my ear. “I can feel when you’re near, sunshine.”

I scoff. “You cannot.”

“Can too,” he argues. “I have Sophiedar.” He crosses his arms and leans back against the door. It’s unfair how good he looks doing something so damn basic.

“Do you have Principal Wongdar too? That woman moves like a panther.”

He shakes his head, his bottom lip trapped between his teeth as his eyes travel down my body. “Just you.”

FIFTY-FIVE

FOSTER

It was impossible not to notice Sophie standing outside the classroom. She’s wearing a blouse with multicolored chickens today. It’s so loud it enters a room before she does. She was talking to the principal when I looked up, but I don’t need to tell her that.

She’s practically vibrating, and I’m even more interested to know why Principal Wong suggested I check in with her.

“What’s up? You look like you could jump over the moon right now.”

She bites her lip and looks back at her phone before clapping her hands together. “I just got off a call with my supervisor. She said Hazel, the one I’m covering for, won’t be returning when her maternity leave ends because she’ll be in a different region.”

“So,” I prompt, watching as she takes a deep breath, relaxing under my touch.

“I’m no longer on a mat leave contract. I’m permanent—or I will be once I sign all the relevant paperwork.”

“Soph!” I pull her back to me and lift her right off the ground with my hug. “That’s amazing, congratulations.”

“Thank you,” she murmurs into my hair.

“I feel like I need to come up with something better for Z now. We need to celebrate.”

She’s shaking her head before I even got the last word out. “No, I only want to be with you. That’s enough for me.” She slides back to the floor, her hands coming to rest on the side of my face. “Don’t change a thing. I’ve been looking forward to this for a week.”

“You don’t even know what it is. You may hate it.”

“Impossible,” she says defiantly.

“You’re very confident, Miss Hore.”

“You’ve done nothing to sway that confidence in you, Mr. Walsh.” She stares back, and I either need to leave or do that thing where we swipe everything off the desk and go at it. I reach back, and when I feel the doorknob, I turn it slowly. “I don’t trust the look in your eyes right now, so I’m going to wait for you in the car.”

I can hear her cackle all the way down the hall as I hurry out of the building. We’ve done a very good job not allowing things to get heated while we’re at school. Keeping work and what we are separate is important to both of us, but there are some days where the presence of her is almost too much to ignore. Happy Sophie is irresistible, and while I have a good handle on my self-control, she likes to test it.

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