My Know-It-All Nemesis - Maggie Dallen Page 0,40

around me to give me the best hug I’ve ever gotten in my life. “That was the nicest thing anyone has ever said about me,” she said thickly. “Or done for me.”

I held her tight, burying my face in her neck and soaking up the scent that had been driving me wild for two years. “Does this mean you agree to go out with me?”

She laughed. “Yeah, I think I can fit you in.”

I grinned as she slid back down my chest and stepped away. My heart felt like it might explode I was so happy. “Yeah? You don’t think you’ll be too busy…” I nodded toward the stage. “What with your new presidential responsibilities and all?”

She gave me a funny little grimace. “Yeah, about that…”

Her voice trailed off as Mr. Gentry took the stage and fiddled with the mic.

I looked back at Kate, and she winced. “I, uh…I sort of just backed out of the race, too.”

I arched my brows. “You’re serious,” I said.

She nodded. “That’s where I ran off to when I left you before, I just…” She shrugged and let out a sigh. “I realized pretty much the exact same thing that you did. I wasn’t running for the right reasons. When I thought about getting this position without a fight from you, it became very clear to me that I didn’t really want the job at all.”

Mr. Gentry started to speak. Explaining to the crowd that the special election was off. Which meant…

Oh no.

“Wait, so Tim Pfieffer is going to be student council president?” I said.

Kate’s face scrunched up in horror. “It looks that way.”

“This poor school,” I muttered.

“What have we done?” she added.

I wrapped my arms around her. “We’ll all be fine. You know why?”

She arched her brows in question.

“They have us. Two amazing leaders among men who will help to guide this school.”

She tried to squelch a grin and failed. “You have an awful lot of confidence in us.”

I gave a falsely modest shrug. “I’m pretty impressive, and my new girlfriend…” I leaned down to give her a quick kiss. “She is absolutely amazing.”

She wrapped her arms around my neck and tilted her head to the side. “So, how exactly do we do this? What comes next?”

I was humbled when I realized that for all her intelligence and all her drive, being in a relationship was just as foreign to her as it was to me. Maybe even more so since I’d at least dated before.

I toyed with a strand of hair that was falling out of her ponytail and tucked it behind her ear. “We can take it slow if that’s what you want.”

She nodded. “I think I have to. I mean, I’m glad we’re doing this,” she said with a blush. “But I know I have a lot to figure out right now.” Her expression grew thoughtful. “I need to figure out who I am when I’m not always trying to win and get ahead, you know?”

I nodded because I did know—maybe better than anyone. “I need to figure out who I am when I’m not trying to prove something to everyone else.”

She nodded, her lips pursed in thought. “Maybe that’s what college is for. You know…figuring ourselves out. What we want, where we belong…”

“Maybe,” I said. “For right now, all I know is that I’m happy I get to be with you.”

She grinned as she went up on tip-toe, planting a kiss on my lips. “And I might not know much, but I know I like you,” she said. “I like that you challenge me. That you don’t let me win. I like that when you look at me you see more than smiles, and cheerfulness, and good old reliable Kate.”

I had to laugh at that description. “Oh trust me, Kate. I always knew you had claws beneath that sugary sweet exterior.”

She grinned. “I like that you knew that and still wanted to get close to me.”

“And I like that you made me earn your respect.”

She smiled. “So. We know one thing then…we like each other.”

“We definitely do,” I said as I pulled her in closer. “All the rest we can figure out together.” I’d said it with finality, thinking that was the end of the conversation, but I should have known better. Kate would never put off until tomorrow what she could do today. Sure enough…

“Maybe we don’t have to wait until college,” she said with an optimistic little grin. “I mean, we are a couple of overachievers.”

I laughed. “This