Page 98 of Stuck with my Guarded MVP
“Stand here,” I said softly, guiding her to the railing.
She moved in front of me, her hands resting on the cool metal. I stepped close behind her, placing my hands on the railing on either side of hers, caging her in. My chest pressed against her back. I felt her take a deep, slow breath and let it out, her body relaxing against mine.
We were quiet for a long moment, just looking up.
“I’ve been studying,” I said, my voice low near her ear.
I felt her head tilt slightly. “Studying what?”
“The constellations.” I paused, letting the words hang in the air between us. “You should test me.”
She was silent. I could feel the shift in her, the understanding moving through her. She went completely still.
Then, she turned in the circle of my arms.
Her eyes searched mine in the faint light. She wasn’t smiling. Her expression was serious, full of a wonder that made my chest ache. She brought a hand up to my cheek.
And then she kissed me.
It wasn’t soft or gentle. Her fingers slid into my hair. I pulled her tighter against me, one hand on her back, the other tangling in the hair at the nape of her neck. I forgot about the stars. She was the only gravity left.
When we finally broke apart, we were both breathing hard.
A slow grin spread across my face. “Wow. If I’d known you’d kiss me like that, I would’ve learned them a lot sooner.”
She laughed, a breathy, happy sound, and swatted my arm. “Jerk.”
I chuckled, pulling her back in so her head rested under my chin. I kissed her hair. “I wanted to learn about something that was important to you,” I murmured into the quiet.
She didn’t answer. She just turned her head and pressed her cheek against my chest, right over my heart. We stood there for a long time, wrapped up in each other, under a sky that finally felt like ours.
We stepped back inside from the balcony, the cool night air clinging to our clothes. I kept her hand in mine, not ready to let go. I led her to the hall table where a small, flat package wrapped in simple brown paper waited.
“I have something for you. For us,” I said.
Her brow furrowed in curiosity as she took it. She carefully tore the paper away, revealing a simple black frame. Behind the glass was a picture of us, covered in flour, laughing. Sophie had snapped it at Nolan’s pizza night.
Claire’s breath caught. “This is us.”
“Yeah,” I said, my voice a little rough.
She looked from the photo to my face, her eyes wide with happy confusion.
I rubbed the back of my neck, suddenly feeling bashful under her gaze.
“That day we were shopping… in the elevator,” I started. “I saw our reflection in the mirror. We looked like a couple. Or maybe I was just wishing we were a couple. I just… I couldn’t get that image out of my mind.” I looked down at the picture in her hands. “So I wanted a real one. A picture of us I could look at anytime. And I remembered…”
Her face softened, her eyes glistening. “Pizza night,” she finished for me, her voice a whisper. “Sophie kept trying to take our picture with your phone.”
A quiet chuckle escaped me. “Yeah. I think I still have glitter on the case from her grabbing it.”
She laughed, a sweet, watery sound, and looked back at the photo, her thumb tracing the edge of the frame.
“So,” she said, a playful glint returning to her eyes. “Where are we hanging it? On your wall of fame?”
I stared at her, my brow furrowing. “My what?”
She laughed softly at my confused expression and gestured down the hall. “You know. The hallway leading to your bedroom? With all your framed jerseys and action shots and trophies. Your wall of fame.”
