Page 98 of Taylor

“Hey, I can fight,” he said in mock defensiveness.

“Clearly, I just hadn’t seen it before.”

“Yeah, I don’t do it much. But can we please talk about the important thing?”

She looked up at him like she wasn’t sure what he wanted to talk about, like she hadn’t just told her father and his coach they were dating.

“What are you talking about?”

“Your dad. How did that go?”

“Good.”

No. That wasn’t going to do. She couldn’t just leave it there.

“I’m going to need more than a simple good. My head can spin that fifty different ways.”

She turned her head and propped it on his chest, looking him in the eyes.

“He asked if you made me happy, and I told him you did, and he said he was happy for us... but to let him know if that changes.”

“Well, I’m going to ask you to let me know if that happens, too, because I would really like a chance to fix it,” he said, worry creeping into his voice.

“I will, but I don’t know how you could ever not make me happy. You make me feel like I’m something special,” she said barely above a whisper.

“You are very special to me,” he said before kissing her forehead. “I love you. I know that you have trouble trusting that. And I know part of that is my fault with how I dropped off the face of the earth after we got back. I’ll never do that. I want you to know and trust how much I love you.”

She tilted her head and gazed up at him with a smile. “Taylor, I love you... I think I’ve loved you since the cabin. I know that sounds crazy, but I fell that fast. When I thought you didn’t feel that way, it almost tore me apart, but I trust you. I believe you.”

“Good,” he said, smoothing her hair and holding her close, “because I have a crazy confession of my own.”

“What’s that?”

“I was thinking, since I have the space, and you have a studio here now... What if you moved in? It doesn’t have to be now, or even before the season is over... I just really like having you here?—”

“Yes! I would love that.”

“Really?”

“Of course! My lease is up in June.”

“And you want to move in here with me?”

She nodded, and his heart was fit to explode out.

He bent his head and kissed her, then glanced at his phone.

It was getting late.

“What time are we meeting your dad?”

“Lunch? We didn’t agree on a time. I’ll text him in the morning.”

He nodded, still nervous.

“It’s all okay. I promise,” she said, trying to soothe his worry.

“At least one of us is confident.”

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