Page 80 of Foul Play

“Hey.” Ezra slides into the booth across from me, a grin already forming. “I’ll trade you a kiss for your drink.”

“Deal.” I giggle, leaning forward to press my lips to his. Instead of letting it be a brief kiss, he gently holds me there bythe back of the neck, and I melt a little in the process. When we break apart, he nods at my computer. “How’s the screenplay coming?”

I turn the laptop toward him just enough for him to see a few lines. “I think good? It’s weird, though. I thought I loved analyzing other people’s stories, but?—”

“You love this even more,” he finishes.

I blink. “Yeah. Like, so much more.”

“I knew you would.”

Out the window, I notice someone dribbling a basketball down the street.

Ezra follows my gaze. “Want to practice together later?”

I grin. “Sure. Only because you make it so fun.”

“Are you sure? I can’t have you getting tired of my favorite sport, so you have to promise you’ll tell me if you’re over it.”

“Yes, I know, Mr. Insufferable Scholarship Man.” I hold his gaze, letting humor lace my tone. “I never thought I’d say this, but I love basketball now. But it definitely has something to do with you.”

He grins. “Nah, it’s definitely the sport. Basketball is amazing, Sullivan.”

I drape my arm across his torso, nuzzling into him. “It is. But it’s nothing compared to how much I love you.” After dating him for this long, it’s finally not hard for me to say anymore. If anything, it feels freeing to express how I feel about him. It’s crazy that I ever thought I needed a platform to find my voice, because it was never missing in the first place. I’ve had it all along.

But the best part of it all? It’s not my own voice I need to listen to. I have the voices of my friends, my mother, and the Lord to guide me—the latter being the best one of all.

And even though I no longerfeellike a wallflower, I can’t deny that listening is still what I do best.