Page 104 of Clichés & Curses

We continued exchanging stories from our childhood to our life in high school, trying to one-up each other on who had more funny stories, as we rated each one on a scale of one to ten.

The pizza box eventually emptied up. Colton ended up eating five slices, while I ate three—the perfect balance for us. Once we were done, Colton insisted on helping me throw the pizza box through the garbage chute in the hallway, so I went ahead and wiped the coffee table. I refilled our glasses of chocolate milk and waited for him in the living room. The sound of the front door closing signalled his return not moments later. He went to wash his hands before reclaiming his spot on the living room couch.

‘So …’ Colton trailed off.

‘So …’ I parroted.

‘I hit a home run today.’

‘You did.’

He gave me a small smile. ‘So, what happens now?’

‘I mean, a deal is a deal, right?’ I shrugged.

At that, his smile faded away. ‘Clara, you don’t have to do this, if you don’t want to. If you need more time to decide, I’m willing to wait for you.’

I frowned at his words. It never crossed my mind that Colton would second-guess my decision to let him take me out on a date. But given my track record of pushing him away, it wouldn’t be too far off to assume that I made the condition just to reject him again.

After the reassurance he had given me the day before, I thought it was time to reciprocrate.

I scooted closer to him and grabbed his hand, enveloping it with both of them as I rubbed my thumb on the back of his hand. Seeing what I was doing, Colton turned his body to face me and moved closer.

From two ends of the couch, we met in the middle.

I placed a soft kiss on his knuckles before lifting my gaze to meet his. ‘I like you, Colton. I like you so, so much. And I don’t blame you for thinking I made the home run condition in the hopes that you won’t meet it. In some ways, it’s my fault for making you feel that way. I’m sorry for ever making you feel that being a star athlete is a bad thing, because it’s not. It shows so much character than just being a dumb trait that cliché love interests have. The deal—or the condition, or whatever it was—didn’t actually matter. It never did,’ I told him. ‘But for what it’s worth, I was confident you’d actually hit one and I was right.’

The edge of his lips tilted up slightly.

‘And if you were to ask me again, I’ll give you a straightforward answer this time. No more confusion,’ I added.

‘You promise?’

I nodded. ‘I promise.’

‘Good.’ The palm of his other hand met the back of mine, as he asked, ‘Clara Healy, do you want to go on a date with me?’

There was only one answer. ‘Yes, Colton Reed. I would love to go on a date with you.’

The look on Colton’s face was one I knew I wanted to store in my mind forever. His massive grin reached all the way to his eyes, and before I knew it, Colton had his arms wrapped around me and picked me up. He settled me into his lap as he rested his head between my neck and shoulders, my legs straddling him.

I pulled away just enough so I could see his face. ‘I am still scared, though—of whatever this is. So, we might have to take this slow, and you’re going to have to be real patient with me.’

‘Don’t worry about having to take it slow. We can go at whichever pace you want,’ he reassured me. ‘And I’ll be there with you every step of the way. You just make sure you’ll let me be there with you, okay?’

‘Okay,’ I whispered. I rested my head sideways on his right shoulder as he gave me gentle rubs on my back.

We settled into a comfortable silence, both of us just breathing in the other person’s presence as we were entangled with one another.

The quietness didn’t last too long when Colton decided to speak. ‘You know. You haven’t apologized to me for one other thing.’

I raised my head, facing him. ‘What other thing?’ I arched a brow.

‘For shamelessly gawking at me shirtless.’

‘Shamelessly gawking?’ I trailed off, recalling all the times we had spent together as I tried to remember if I ever saw him shirtless.

And then, it hit me.

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