Page 76 of Sunflower Persona
His rich timbre washes over me, sending a warm tingle down my spine and lighting me up from the inside. It’s been less than a day since I’ve heard his voice—which is no time in the grand scheme of things—but the sound is a drug, soothing the growing itch of withdrawal.
“Is everything okay? Why are you calling?”
“Do I need a reason to call my girl besides wanting to hear her voice?”
“No, but you saw me yesterday.”
“That was yesterday. I miss you.”
“It’s too soon for you to miss me,” I protest despite the butterflies swarming in my stomach.
“Says who?”
“I don’t know, the internet? We’ve only been on one date, that’s way too early to be missing each other like this.”
“One: we’ve known each other for weeks. Yesterday might have been our first date, but by no stretch was it our start. Two: fuck what anyone else thinks. The only people whose opinions matter when it comes to our relationship are us. Three: are you saying you miss me too?”
“Maybe…”
“When can I see you again?” he asks with a desperate rasp.
“Why are you asking me? You are the one with a million jobs.”
“It’s only two now. But I work every night this week. You could come by Cutter’s. I’m sure the crew would keep you company.”
The “yes” is on my tongue, but Daisy’s beady glare keeps it from slipping past my lips. She knows how many hours the pile of unfinished assignments with looming due dates is going to take for me to finish, and it’s too many for me to spare a night going out with friends—even if I really want to.
“As great as that sounds…”
“You can’t,” he finishes for me, sounding dejected.
“I have too much schoolwork to get done this week. It’s like my professors conspired to set all their due dates at the same time.”
“Are you busy this Saturday? I’ve got most of the afternoon free.”
“No, I’m available.”
“Perfect. Then I’m taking you out.”
“That sounds like a statement, not a question.”
“Because it wasn’t,” he says in the no-nonsense way that makes me want to do very dirty things to him.
“Yes, Coach,” I rasp, and based on the low growl he gives in response, he knows exactly where my head is at.
“Go to bed, or work on your assignments. I’ll call you again tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Goodnight, Kori.”
“Goodnight, Gage,” I say, and the line goes dead.
My body isn’t enough to contain the overwhelming swell of emotion in my chest and flurry of butterflies in my stomach. Until this moment, I never understood the whole “kicking your legs” thing that is always in rom-coms, but the urge is there. Maybe it would release some of this all-consuming giddiness. There’s no way I’ll be able to focus on my assignments like this, so I put on a movie and try to relax enough to get some sleep. It doesn’t come easy. My thoughts are full of Gage and my anticipation of tomorrow. I hope it’s always like this—I can’timagine being with him and not spending each day looking forward to the next.
Chapter 24
Gage
