Page 155 of Text Me Baby One More Time

“Then don’t say a thing.” He slides Steve from my arms and opens the back door, where he then deposits the pup onto the bed that’s sitting back there. “You know what they mean, right?”

I look up at him. “Yes, Shep, I do.”

He nods once. “Good. Now get in. Time crunch.”

I gather up the flowers and pull them to my nose, loving the way they smell, then haul myself into the cab. It’s difficult maneuvering around with all the flowers in the way, but it’s worth it.

Red roses mean true love.

Cliché, but still absolutely breathtaking.

The car ride is silent, and for the first time in a really long time with Shep, it’s a comfortable silence, the kind of comfortable I’ve always craved when it came to him.

It’s sad that it’s taken us so long to get to this point.

“What are we doing here? They close in like ten minutes,” I say as we pull into the lot at Smart Shoppe.

“Told you we were on a time crunch.” He turns the truck into a parking spot but doesn’t shut the ignition off. “Stay here. Last time we came here, I had to carry your ass all the way across the parking lot, and I am not doing that again.”

“So rude, but I’ll wait here—only because it’s annoying to have to get out of the car with all these flowers,andsomeone needs to watch Steve.”

“See? I’m so smart. Be right back.”

He takes off jogging into the store, and I occupy myself with trying to arrange the flowers better so I’m not so cramped.

He returns with two full bags of stuff, and the store lights dim as he approaches the car.

“Boom. Made it.” Shep tosses his bags into the back then climbs back behind the wheel.

“What’d you get?”

“Ice cream.”

“What kind of ice cream?”

“Our favorite.”

Our.

Even though he’s just talking about ice cream, the word makes my heart skip a beat.

I like the way it sounds. I like the way Shep and I sound together.

I wasn’t lying when I told him I was still mad at him, but Delia was right: I can be mad at him and want to be with him all in the same breath, and that’s okay.

Shep pulls out of the parking lot and takes a left then another left two stops up.

I laugh when he pulls into a fast food joint, because I know just what he’s up to.

He steers the truck to the drive-thru and rolls his window down.

Pointing at me, he says, “Don’t you dare try to order any of that fancy stuff. Dollar menu only for you.”

“I want two orders of spicy chicken nuggets, a large fry,anda vanilla milkshake.”

“I already got us ice cream.”

“Oh, the milkshake is for you. It’s cute that you think I’m sharing that ice cream.”

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