Page 176 of As They Are
Now her eyes were wide. “That’sreallywhat you thought about me?”
“Yep.”
Her face flushed as she brought me in for a kiss. I would have stayed there forever if I didn’t have more to tell her.
“The next were the buttercups.”
“You forgot the clover,” she said. “That’s the first thing you picked for me. It got dried too.”
“I think that one is obvious.”
“Still.” She shrugged as she looked at me through her lashes. “It was adorable. What did the buttercups mean?”
“Joy. I mainly thought that it was a good idea for the show, but then I realized I feel joy whenever I look at you.”
“And that’s why you gave me the nickname?”
“It’s why it stuck.” I brushed my thumb over her cheek. “Then there was the morning glory. It means unreturned love. Or it could mean undying love. For the show, I meant it to be the second one.”
“And for you?”
“A few weeks ago, I would have said the first. Now, I agree with the second one.”
“Then the hydrangeas?”
“Gratitude. For being there for me when I had my issues.”
“Of course. Those were beautiful, though a pain to dry.”
“You didn’t have to.”
“The flowers are the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. I wasn’t throwing them away.”
“You’ll have to show me the scrapbook,” I said. “And the final one was?—”
“The rose. Which usually means love.” She tilted her head. “Was that one for the show too?”
“They were blooming, and I thought of you. And then I justified it by saying it was for the show. But after ... I knew.”
Wren straightened. “No way did you say you loved me through flowers.”
“Technically, IrealizedI loved you through flowers.”
“Both are equally nerdy. And equally adorable.” She tucked back more of her hair, and I saw that her entire body was flushed. “What made you finally figure it out? So I can do it all the time, of course.”
“There wasn’t a moment that did it, just a lot of little things that added up.”
“Still, there has to besomething.”
“It’s just you, Wren. You’re what I love. You don’t need to do anything to earn it or keep it. You just have it.” She blinked, and I could have sworn I saw wetness in her eyes. But I knew her wellenough to let her process, so I continued. “You don’t have to say it back?—”
“I want to, though.” She cleared her throat. “I do love you.”
My cheeks heated at her saying those words. I knew that, without a shadow of a doubt, those words would become my favorite to hear.
“Dating for one day and we’re already saying the L-word? We’re moving fast.”
“Technically we’ve been dating for months.”
