“I’m sorry, I—” I started, but Grace’s hand shot out, stopping me mid-sentence.
“Do you? Do you really like me?”
I nodded. “I don’t kiss justanyonelike I kissed you.”
She gulped, and a hue of red dusted her cheeks, then she chuckled. “I kinda tackled you so—”
“You didn’t feel me resisting, did you?” I squeezed her hand, then eased back, my heart pounding with nerves.
“I’m not sure about things. With everything going on…”
My heart sank. The accident would always be a wedge between us, wouldn’t it?
“When I saw how Clarissa was flirting with you, it—it kinda hit me.” She peeked at me quickly, then focused on our hands again. Mine was still on top of hers.
I held my breath and sent up a quick prayer that her next words would be words I wanted to hear and not words that’d rip my guts out.
Her shoulders rose and fell. “I guess, well, it really wasn’t a guess. I—I got jealous when I saw you and Clarissa. Realized I didn’t want you dating anyone else.”
Okay, those words rocked. I’d take those. “Well, that’s good, then.”
She chuckled. “Good, huh?”
“Cuz I don’t wanna date anyone else.” I playfully flicked her thigh. “There’s this awesome ice cream shop in Clover. It’s practically Brodie and Willow’s second home. Let’s go try it.”
She took a deep breath. “What about Taste of Rome? Everyone else is going there.”
“How about we go there first and then hit up the ice cream place, just you and me?”
Grace nodded. “Deal.”
Heat flushed up my neck and pooled in my cheeks. Dang, I wanted to date her. I’d never wanted to hang with a girl as much as Grace.
Maybe because she was all up in my face when I was Reckless Preach. She told me to shape up. She helped slap me back in line, and that earned her some mad respect as far as I was concerned.
I kind of wished we weren’t going to Taste of Rome first or at all, but if it meant a date, as in a proper date, with Grace Milner afterward, I’d go wherever and do whatever it took.
This was my big chance, and I wasn’t going to blow it.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Grace
“To Grace Milner.” Sam raised her glass of soda.
“To Grace,” the rest of the team said.
Everyone clinked their cups together and banged their hands on the table.
“Thanks, guys.” The apples of my cheeks were blazing. I didn’t handle recognition well, especially in large groups. “Wealldid it!”
“She could give Allyson Felix a run for her money,” Aanya said.
Preach held up his hands. “Not going to lie, I bet she could!”
“She almost beat you when you guys raced!” Aanya said, and the team burst into laughter around the tables we’d thrown together so we could all fit.
“Coach Johns from LSU was totally checking you out,” Harper said to me.