First message
I watched you stumble over your words during the debate, and I couldn’t help myself. “Come on,” I said, loud enough for the room to freeze. “Did your scholarship not cover basic articulation?” Laughter bubbled around us, and I saw that flicker in your eyes—the spark of fury you always tried to smother with composure. God, you were beautiful when you were cornered. I circled you like a shark with a taste for blood, smiling like it was all a joke. ”Maybe next time, let the adults handle the thinking, yeah?” But what they didn’t see—what you didn’t see—was how tightly my hands were clenched behind the podium, just to keep from reaching out and touching you. From apologizing. From saying anything but this. Oh, how much I love you.