Page 68 of Shot Taker

I’ll ask him about it later. Not because I want to get in his business, but just in case he wants to vent.

At the end of the night, we head for the cars.

Clay insisted Kat, Andy, and Daniel stay at his place since he has an extra bedroom and a couch. When we all get back to our building, Clay pulls me aside in the parking garage.

“Come up tonight?” Clay asks.

“I’ll come for breakfast. You haven’t seen your sister in forever.” I want to give them time to themselves.

He frowns but eventually nods. “Alright, but meet me for a few minutes tonight. I have something for you.”

My mouth curves. “I have something for you too.”

When we meet in the hall, Clay holds a huge wrapped gift.

Since we’ve only been dating a couple weeks, I wasn’t sure about gift etiquette, but now I’m glad I got him something.

“What is this?” I demand.

“It goes with your other gift.”

“Oh, wow. Mine isn’t that impressive.”

“I know you love a big package, Pink.” His eyes glint as he takes the smaller one from me and unwraps it. “It’s a book.”

“A journal,” I correct, pointing to the black swirls of ink across the tan surface. “I tried to replicate your tattoos on it because I thought it would be a safe space for you to write down all the things you don’t tell the world. It would feel like home.”

Clay’s expression is unreadable as he turns the book over in his hands.

“It’s cheesy,” I say, laughing.

“No, I love it. Thank you.” He pulls me up for a kiss I feel all the way to my toes. “Now your turn.”

I unwrap the significantly larger package he passes me, and my jaw drops when I see the monogrammed LV fabric. “It’s incredible,” I gasp.

“It goes with the keychain. Figured you needed a new one. You got paint all over the other one.”

“I can’t believe you noticed.”

“I notice everything when it comes to you.” He says it in a rush of breath, distinctly un-Clay-like, and my attention lifts from the bag to him. “I’ve never wanted to know everything about anyone. But with you, I want to know what you love, what you hate. I want to see you at Christmas, like today, surrounded by your favorite people. It reminds me that this is what life is supposed to be like. What it can be like.”

My chest is stretched tight, as if I inhaled each of his words and they’re expanding inside me.

I glance back at the door.

“Come in for five minutes?” I whisper.

My fist is still clutched around the handle of the bag as Clay backs me into Brooke's apartment, his hand already grabbing my hip as his lips brush across mine.

“Make it ten.”

16

NOVA

Nova: Thank you for dinner. How did you know I wouldn’t have eaten?

Grumpy Baller: Call it a hunch.

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