“Spoken like a true romantic,” Jo says dryly, but she’s smiling. She turns to face me. “It’s up to you, Mallory. Maybe I’ve been overprotective of you over the years by reminding you of what happened with Brevan. I’m sorry if I was over the line.”
“I’m always grateful to have you in my corner, Jo. You know that.” I pause and think. “Honestly, there hasn’t been anyone who I’ve wanted to date.”
“Until now!” My mom’s voice is sing-songy. “Because youlikeHolland. Iknewit. Didn’t I call this?“ She smacks Jo in the arm, and then she looks at me. “When will you get to see him again?”
I tap my phone to check the time. “Soon. I’ve gotta go. Mom, don’t get your hopes up. It’s just a date,” I say again. I like the idea of being the heroine of my story…in theory. It’s still terrifying to think of stepping out of my comfort zone—or should I say, the place where I’ve stayed to protect my image and my reputation. But maybe I owe it to myself to try.
Now to figure out how to do that when the cameras are rolling.
My mom gives me a thumbs up.
“Keep us posted, then. As soon as you can,” Jo says, and my mom nods. “I’m proud of you, Mallory.”
“Thanks. Love you guys.”
“Love you too. We’re here for you. We support you no matter what.”
I blow them kisses and hang up.
I take a deep breath and pull up a new text message to Holland.
Mallory
Okay, I’m in.
29
We Can Be Cute
Holland
Mallory
Okay, I’m in.
Am I hallucinating? I lean back in the driver’s seat of my car and scrub my hand over my face. I count to ten before I crack an eye open and peer down at the screen on my phone.
The message is still there. She hasn’t edited it. She hasn’t unsent it.
I’m not about to give her the chance.
My pulse kicks up as I press the video call button, and a couple seconds later, Mallory’s face fills my screen.
She’s scowling, which is honestly kind of perfect. “Holland, what are you doing?” She sounds exasperated. “I’m supposed to be downstairs in, like, less than ten minutes.”
I can’t help the goofy grin that I’ve got going on. I can see it in the small window at the bottom of my screen, but I don’t try to erase it. “So you want to date me, huh?”
She rolls her eyes, but when she pins me with one of her stern looks, I can see there’s some humor in her gaze too. “Don’t let it go to your head.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” I turn serious. “Thanks for giving me the chance to woo you.”
She pulls a disgusted face. “First rule of dating me is that you aren’t going to use the wordwooagain.”
I chuckle. “Noted. But that reminds me, we’re going to have to revisit some of the other rules you put in place on our first date at my parents’. Do I get to touch you more now?”
Her eyes widen and then narrow. “This is how it’s going to be, huh?”
I laugh outright. “This is going to be so fun.”
