Page 118 of Text Me Baby One More Time

“Now that I know he’s Delia’s Zach, I just cannot imagine him engaged to anyone else.”

“It didn’t last long, and it scared me. They were together for years before getting engaged. They were supposed to be that couple that made it through college. They didn’t, though. They failed, and I was terrified we would fail too.”

“You didn’t even give us a chance, Cap.”

“I know.” Another kiss. “But all these doubts started creeping in. What if I wasn’t good enough for you? What if I couldn’t make you happy? You were moving across the country for me—what if I didn’t give you everything you needed? What if I wanted baseball more than you? There was so much I didn’t have answers for.”

“That’s life, though. We don’t have answers for any of it.”

“Tell that to eighteen-year-old me, because I sure as shit always thought I had all the answers. I was the king of the fucking world.”

I laugh. “You still think you’re the king.”

I feel his smile against my neck. “Guilty, but I was wrong then, Den. I was wrong to project all my insecurities onto you. It’s something I’ve done time and time again. I’ve made that same mistake several times after…us, but I’m ready to own up to it. I’m ready to face it.”

I roll toward him, snuggling close and searching for his eyes in the dimly lit room. “What changed?”

Shep buries his face in the pillows. “Yurhunnawaf.”

“What?”

“Yurhunnawafatme.”

“English, Shepard—do you speak it?”

He turns to me, grinning. “Say what again. I dare you. I double dare you.”

I wrinkle my nose. “Um, what?”

“Oh god, you haven’t seen it.” He rolls away from me, pulling himself out of bed…naked. He moves around so fast that Steve falls off and darts under the desk, cowering in his bed. “Well”—he tosses his hands up in the air—“this was good while it lasted. I’ll be taking my dog and leaving now.”

“Don’t you dare touch Steve!” I shoot up to a sitting position, pointing at him. “I’ve seenPulp Fiction. Now get your ass back in bed.”

“Oh, thank god,” he says as he exhales. He shakes his head, sliding back under the blankets. “I thought we were done for.”

We snuggle back down into the same spots we were in before.

“Tell me.”

“Fine, but no laughing.”

“Isthatwhat you were saying? That I was going to laugh at you?”

“Duh. Anyway, it was Allie and AJ. They, uh, they’re the ones who made me believe.”

“In?”

“Love. Fate. All that other bullshit you subscribe to.”

“So then Santa, Valentine’s Day,andthe dangers of mixing Pop Rocks and Coke?”

He laughs, remembering what he said to me all those years ago. “Yes, all that bullshit.”

“How?”

“They made it.” He brushes away a hair that’s fallen over my eye. “They made it through college, AJ’s baseball career, and all the other shit. They did it.”

I lean into him, getting close enough to where he thinks I’m going to kiss him, then against his lips, I whisper, “I called it.”

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