Page 127 of Playing Mr. Perfect

“Sable,” I warn.

“It’s all good, babe,” Clay says. “Sable, you and Kane should come visit us in Charlottesville. You can do a polar plunge with us.”

The shocked look on my family’s faces makes me laugh, and come visit us makes me swoon.

Sable scoffs. “Yeah, right. Pepper doesn’t do polar plunges.”

“I do now,” I say, grinning as Sable’s jaw drops. “Clay’s opening my eyes to a lot of things I’ve never done before.”

“I bet he is,” she says with a smirk.

Hours pass with laughter, stolen kisses, and fun with friends and family. Clay and I play games, and we run into Ravi and his family, and they join us for lunch. We visit every available booth, and Clay buys his mother a necklace from Morgyn. He takes pictures with eager fans and signs autographs when asked, and I’m surprised to realize I no longer feel uncomfortable by that attention. It feels good to see him appreciated for his hard work.

By midafternoon, we’re having so much fun and I’m on such a high, I don’t want to wait another minute to give him his gift. “Are you ready for your Valentine’s Day present?”

His gaze turns seductive. “I’m always ready, baby.”

“It’s not that. Come on.” I take his hand, hurrying toward the exit.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see!”

Soon we’re running and laughing, sharing a kiss here and enduring a swat on my butt there, which makes me squeal and run faster. When we reach Main Street, I’m out of breath. We slow to a walk, taking in the banner hanging above the road announcing the festival and the big red bows tied around the old-fashioned streetlights. Shop windows are decorated with reds and pinks and boast signs that say Oak Falls Supports #teamplay.

“Don’t ever say you’re not sporty.” Clay hauls me into a kiss. “You can haul ass when you want to. Where to?”

Butterflies swarm in my belly again. I can’t believe what I’m about to do, but I refuse to chicken out. I pull open the door to the Stardust Café and wave him in.

“Pepper Montgomery,” Winona Hanson, an effervescent redhead, says from behind the counter, drawing the attention of a few customers sitting on red vinyl stools by the counter and a couple sitting in a booth. “I was wondering if I’d see you this weekend with your famous beau.”

“Hi, Win.” I wrap my arm around Clay’s. “This is Clay Braden. Clay, this is Winona Hanson. She runs the café.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Clay says. “I bet you’re privy to all sorts of juicy gossip.”

“They don’t call it Gossip Central for nothin’.” She grabs a plate from the counter and holds it up, offering us heart-shaped sugar cookies that have #teamplay written on them in red icing. “Cookie? They’re on the house today.”

“Thanks.” Clay and I each take a cookie, and he says, “I love how the community is supporting teamwork.”

Some guy at the end of the counter yells, “Go team play!”

“Oak Falls always pulls together,” Winona says. “Do you want to take a seat, and I’ll be right with you?”

“Thanks, but we’re not here to eat,” I say. “I just want to show Clay the Let It Out wall.”

“It’s quite a sight,” she says. “Let me know if you need anything.”

I take Clay’s hand, and we head to the back of the café.

He eyes the graffiti wall. “Does this mean I get to see what you wrote on here?”

“Yup.” We stand in front of the wall as he looks it over. “This café is legendary. Nearly every kid who ever lived in Oak Falls has worked here for some period of time, and anyone who’s lived in the area has probably written on that wall.”

“Did you work here?”

“Yes, for one summer. It was fun, but it was a lot of hard work keeping up with everything. Did you ever work as a waiter?”

“No, but I worked in a sports store one summer. The customers drove me nuts, but it was great for meeting girls. If you came into the store, I definitely would have asked you out.”