Page 89 of The One I Love
With a worried look and shaky hands, Luke takes his phone back out and starts typing. I get it. My hands would have been trembling if I had done this with Amelia in high school. Hell, they still do sometimes.
“Okay. Done,” he says as he lets out the biggest breath of maybe his life. “Now let’s go turn on the movie so I have something to think about other than if she’s going to text me back.”
“Sounds good.”
We both stand, grabbing our sodas and pizza, but Luke doesn’t move.
“Shane?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks,” he says. “For…well, everything.”
“You never need to thank me,” I say. “But I appreciate it.”
We each grab another slice and head out to the living room. Mariah has already set up shop on her oversized bean bag. I take a seat next to Amelia on the couch as Luke heads to the recliner, remote in hand.
“Which one are we on?”
“Last week we watched the one with the hot blond guy.”
“Thor,” Luke says with a dry look. “The movie wasThor.”
“Whatever,” Mariah says. “My description wasn’t wrong.”
Amelia and I laugh as the two of them bicker. This. This is what I’ve always wanted. A normal night with just me, Amelia, and the kids. I’ve been over to Amelia’s house dozens of times for dinner. But being here now, Amelia snuggling into me, the kids carrying on like they always do, it just feels right. Like I’m home. Like this is where I was always meant to be.
“Oh! Does this one have Captain America in it?”
I can see Luke rolling his eyes. He’s probably silently begging for that girl to text him back just to get away from Mariah. “Yes, Mariah. This isThe Avengers. They are all in it.”
“Good,” she says as she finishes off her pizza.
“How about Tony Stark?” Amelia asks. “Which one is he?”
“Iron Man? Really?” I ask.
Amelia wags her eyebrows. “Heck, yeah, Iron Man. Money and looks? Sign me up.”
I let out a groan. “He’s my least favorite.”
“That makes sense. He’s the Simon ofThe Avengers.”
This makes everyone crack up. “Oh my God, he is!”Mariah says. “Can I call Uncle Simon that? I feel like he’d really like that.”
“No,” I say to Mariah. “He doesn’t need to think he’s a superhero.”
Everyone laughs as Amelia gives me a kiss on the cheek. “Don’t worry. I’ll pick you over Tony Stark, or Simon, every day of the week.”
“You better.”
She smiles and cuddles back into my side as the movie begins. It plays for about twenty minutes when I see Luke nearly jump out of his chair.
“She said yes!”
If it were just the two of us, I’d get up and celebrate with him. But I have to play it cool. I just smile and nod. “We’ll see you later.”
“Thanks Shane,” Luke gets up and gives his mom a kiss on the cheek. “I won’t be late. And don’t worry, I’m all packed.”
