Page 121 of Text Me Baby One More Time

“Explain.”

“What, noplease?”

“Shepard…” she warns, her tone enough to send a chill down my back.

I let out a long breath. “I already said it: I was recruited by a bigger, better school. I was days away from telling them yes.”

“What happened?”

“You sent me that acceptance letter for Christmas. I called them the next day and turned them down.”

Her mouth drops open and she shakes her head, staring at me like I’m fucking insane. “But…but…why in the hell would you do that!”

“You. Us.Dibs. Because you were coming to be with me.”

“What about AJ? He was coming too.”

“Right, but AJ is a baseball guy. He knew how big a deal it was to be recruited by that school. He was telling me to go for it.”

“Why would you do that, Shep?” she begs, desperate for answers. “Why?”

“I already said why: because of you, because I loved you, Den. I wanted to be with you.”

“Then why did you abandon me? Why did you ignore me? I showed up to that party and you shut me out—literally! Not only did you break my heart, you embarrassed the shit out of me. Why? A classic case of cold feet?”

“It got real.”

“What did?”

“Dibs.” I motion between us. “Wegot too real. You being there…it scared me. What if I wasn’t what you wanted or expected? What if we didn’t work out? What if we failed? What if I regretted not taking that offer?”

“Sure, Shep, sure, but what if you were everything I expected and hoped for? What if we did work out? What if we didn’t fail? What if you didn’t regret it for a second? What if the fucking Pope shits in the goddamn woods? There are a lot of what-ifs in life.” She shakes her head. “Being chickenshit isn’t a reason to walk away from something.”

My knuckles turn white against the wheel.

She’s right. Iknowshe’s right.

If I could go back and change everything, I would. I wouldn’t push her away. I’d fight through my struggles. I’d fight for us.

But I can’t change it. All I can do is make it up to her.

“I know that now. If it makes you feel any better, the only decision I’ve regretted the last five years is not giving us a chance, not giving up that school. It was us…always us.”

She crosses her arms over her chest and lets out a sardonic laugh. “Good. You should. We would have been fucking amazing together.”

I chuckle and glance over to her, enjoying the way her lips twitch, like she’s made herself laugh with her own sarcasm.

It’s typical Denny: fun, not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. She knowsexactlywho she is.

And I’m a goddamn fool for giving her up.

“We still can be, Bucky.”

Her gaze shifts my way and I catch her green eyes for a moment before she turns away and whispers, “I know, Cap, and that’s what scares me.”

* * *

“What are you doing this Friday?”

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