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I release a staggered breath. In my last attempt to convince him, I try, “But it’s just sex.”
He shoots me a pointed look. “I know you don’t believe that, not after that kiss on the Ferris wheel.” I open my mouth to argue, but he continues. “Sex won’t ruin us. Sex will make this real.”
There he goes, saying that word—real—again.
“And I need to know you want me, not the escape.”
My rib cage squeezes so hard it feels like it might squish my heart. “I’m not trying to—”
“Escape? Did you just listen to yourself?” he teases. “That’s all you want. To hide, to not be seen, to slink away into the shadows without anyone noticing. But have you even seen yourself? You make Bitty Beings. Hell, there’s one on your nightstand right now. You couldn’t slink away if you tried. You’re too bright, Cristina, and you deserve more than just trying to exist.”
Rhett’s still holding my hand, and it feels perfect, right. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still a tornado of butterflies swooping around in my stomach, but there’s also something else, a calm drifting underneath it, a calm that whispers, Rhett likes you.
And I whisper back, I like him, too, and maybe, just maybe, it’s time I stopped denying it to myself.
Yet I’m also at a crossroads. “So what do we do?”
He leans back on the headboard, taking me and Flame with him. The bunnicorn, possibly annoyed with all the movement, hops up from my lap and climbs onto Rhett’s chest, lowering herself to snuggle.
“What if we,” he whispers into my hair, “tried to win?”
I pop up and look at him. “Win?”
“We’re already in the lead. What if we kept trying?”
“But what about . . . ?”
His body tenses under mine. “Your dad? There are no guarantees we’ll succeed, but if we do and he comes snooping around, I’ll have a word with him.”
“Rhett, I don’t need you saving me.”
“Cristina.”
The emotion in his eyes makes my chest quiver. Rhett’s looking at me as if, for once, I’m just enough.
“What if, instead of you thinking about it like I’m trying to save you, you think about it more like . . .” He pauses, drops his gaze to our hands before he looks up into my eyes. “I’ve got your back.”
The words settle into my chest, warm and solid. Not rescue. Partnership.
My throat tightens. “Oh.”
“Yeah.” He squeezes my hand. “Exactly that.”
He relaxes and I press my ear to his chest and listen to the quiet thumping of his heart. Its steady rhythm makes my own fluttering beat slow down.
“What do you think?” he asks. “About trying to win?”
Winning means being seen by Glen. Winning means he’ll want what I have, push himself into my life. Winning means the spotlight.
But winning also means getting to stand beside Rhett and accept the challenges, face whatever’s coming next.
“I think . . .” I whisper, the words slowly forming. “I think I want to win.”
Rhett’s hand on my shoulder tightens. “That’s my girl.”
Chapter 28
Rhett
