“DON’T FORGET to mention that there’s a sale-ratio trigger on the equity component,” Bella prompted me on our way to Urban Studies.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And then flip back to the diagram that shows how the trust is funded after the first wave of sales.” She tugged me toward the lecture hall. It was time for our presentation.
Outside the door, I spotted Alison and Dani waiting for us. I grabbed Bella’s hand and stopped to give us a second alone. “Hey. I’m happy to give our half of the presentation. And I promise to remember all the nerdy bits.”
She grinned at me.
“But I think you should consider doing it instead.”
Her smile faded.
I put my hands on both her shoulders. “Nobody knows this stuff better than you do. Nobody.”
Bella looked down at her shoes. “Maybe it makes me a coward, but I’m just not ready to stand up in front of that room.”
“Hold on.” I lifted her chin gently. “There is nothing you could do to make me think you’re a coward. Except about spiders, but I’m just going to let that slide.” Her lips twitched. “You’ve worked hard on this thing, and you sound formidable when you’re talking about it. Like, ass-kicking ninja real-estate developer woman. And you look hot in that sweater. If you were ever going to pick a moment to look the whole world in the eye, today’s not a bad choice.”
“I don’t know, Rafe. Maybe you should incentivize me.” She lifted an eyebrow. “What do I get if I do the presentation?”
I laughed. “I know!” I leaned over and whispered very closely into her ear. “An A in the class.”
She gave me a tiny smirk. “I’d rather you slip me the D.”
I leaned in again, brushing the sensitive place right below her ear. “You’re going to get the D no matter what happens.”
“Okay.” She wrapped her arms around me. “I’ll do it. I really want to win this for you.”
I pulled her tightly to my body. “Relax, baby. It’s all good.”
“How do you figure?”
I kissed her cheekbone, then whispered. “I already won. You’re a whole lot more important to me than this contest.”
The look of surprise on her face practically broke my heart. “Nobody ever said that to me before.”
I curved my hand around the back of her neck. “You know, maybe you didn’t plan it this way, but I’m happy to be your first.”
She let out a giggle, then rose to her toes to kiss me.
Pulling herself together, Bella did a fabulous job with our half of the presentation. And, if I was honest, so did Alison with hers. But there were twelve houses competing. So even though I was certain we’d bested seven or eight of them just with our excellent preparation, it was still a long shot.
After the last team was through, there was a five-minute lull while professor Giulios and his guest — Jimmy Chan, the food truck guy — conferred over the scoring.
Then Giulios took the stage, and Bella grabbed my hand. “Ladies and gentlemen, we saw some very fine work here today. In fact, it breaks my heart to know that a certain block of West 165th Street is not truly poised to go under the wrecking ball.” He lifted his clipboard. “We have a second-place winner to announce first. Team Beaumont, you did an excellent job, especially with just four team members.”
“Shit,” Bella cursed under her breath.
“There was some fine attention to detail on your project. And I think you were the only team to actually visit the site and take pictures. But ultimately, your design and your funding strategies were at war, which is why Coleman House will win tonight’s competition.”
Cheers erupted from team Coleman, and Bella heaved a sigh.
“I’m sorry,” Alison said from the other side of Bella. “This is my fault. That damned green roof.”
“Not your fault,” I argued, meeting Alison’s eyes. “We didn’t lose the World Cup here. We’re going to get an A in this class. And your green roof was cool.”
My ex’s cheeks pinked up at the compliment, and she gave me a tiny smile.
“The man makes a good point,” Dani said, tossing her notebook into her backpack. “I call that a win.”
Up front, Giulios was finished complimenting Coleman’s strategies, and the lecture was breaking up. “I’ll be right back,” I said, hopping out of my seat.
I found Mr. Chan at the front of the room, chatting with a student. I planted myself a few feet away, and was eventually rewarded by a glance and a smile when the other student moved off.
“Hi,” I said, thrusting out a hand. “I’m Rafe Santiago, and I was on team Beaumont.”
“Ah!” the man said, shaking my hand. “You were so close.”
“Yeah, that’s cool. But I was wondering how I can figure out the food-truck business. My family runs a Dominican restaurant in Washington Heights. We need to think about a food truck, but we don’t know the steps.”
He nodded. “How’s your health department rating?”
“It’s awesome because my mom is a slavedriver.”
The man laughed while he reached for his pocket. “Take my card. When you’re ready to get serious with it, call my secretary and tell her that you were the Harkness kid who wanted to get going on a Dominican food truck. We’ll have a meeting.”
My fingers closed around the card. “Thank you, sir. I will do that.”
“Nice to meet you, Rafe. And feel free to bring some majarete to the meeting.” He patted his stomach. “I love that stuff.”
“It’s a deal.”
I walked away, patting the card in my pocket. And just like that I really did win everything. I got a good grade and a connection at the City of New York.
And the girl, too.
Pinch me.
