Page 47 of I Wanna Text You Up

I kick at him and he somehow manages to trap my feet between his legs. Neither of us makes a move toseparate.

“They sound cool—your parents, I mean,” hesays.

“I feel like I won the lottery when it comes to them. It was touch and go for a while, but they finally found me and I got my foreverfamily.”

He turns my way, pushing himself up until he’s resting his head on his hand, our feet still tangled together. “Back it up—you’readopted?”

“Delia never toldyou?”

“No. We didn’t really talk about you though. No offense, we just didn’t dig that deep into ourlives.”

“Does she know where you go on Sundays?” I don’t know why I ask it and I don’t know why I care, but Ido.

“Nope.”

“Good.”

His eyes spark with interest at my answer, but he doesn’t say anything about it. “You said it took you a while to find yourfamily?”

“I was placed with them when I was six. They were the first ones to stick. My birth mother gave me up when I was two and then I sort of bounced around in the system. Everyone wants babies, nottoddlers.”

“You weretwo?”

“Yep.”

“Can I ask…why? Do you knowher?”

I shrug. “I’m not sure why, but I’m glad she did. I got Sofia and Rafe out of it, and no, I don’t know her. I don’t have any desiretoknow her. My parents are the only ones I need, youknow?”

When you tell people you’re adopted, you usually get one of two reactions: they look at you like you’re a lonely, lost puppy, or they think you’re some sort ofpariah.

Caleb’s looking at me with something entirely different in hiseyes.

Wonder. Amazement.Surprise.

“I can’t imagine anyone not wantingyou.”

“Does that include you?” Itease.

“That includes me.” He pauses and screws his face up, thinking. “Wait, no. Not me.” Another pause. “What the hell…yeah, totally includesme.”

“Caleb Mills, do youwantme?”

“Definewant.”

“Do you want to bang me? Because I thought we talked about the no-banging rulealready.”

He looks at me and grins; it’s wolfish. “I’ll make an exception if youwill.”

I swallow down theyesI want to shout from the rooftops because I know he’s only joking right now, and then I roll my eyes and playfully push his grinning face away. “Keep dreamin’,bucko.”

He falls onto his back, laughing and dragging me with him until my head rests on hisshoulder.

“Have you been sleeping on the floor this wholetime?”

“Yep.”

“But it’s souncomfortable.”

---