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“Lacey, how does Shawn take his coffee?” Aiden asks, and I grin.
“Easiest thing ever,” I whisper under my breath.
“You’ve never seen me drink coffee,” Shawn whispers back.
“I have. You had some on Thanksgiving,” I answer, and we flip over our whiteboards.
“With a splash of milk and a half spoonful of sugar. Well done, you two,” Aiden says, and I stick out my tongue.
The game continues for twenty minutes, and Maggie and Aiden don’t even bother jumping in. They’re having too much fun seeing if Shawn and I get our answers right to join.
Neither of us misses a question; I correctly guess his favorite color (purple), how he eats his eggs in the morning (over easy), and what his biggest fear is (spiders, surprisingly).
He does the same, knocking questions about me out of the park; the first time I broke a bone (eleven, thanks to a scooter mishap), my biggest pet peeve (people who don’t return their shopping carts at the grocery store, which Maggie vehemently agrees with) and the place I want to visit the most in the world (the Galapagos Islands, because I have a weird infatuation with tortoises).
“Okay, we’re down to the last question. You two have passed with flying colors, but here comes a tough one,” Aiden says. “Lacey will be first. What is she most looking for in a partner?”
My breath catches, and I dip my chin. There’s no way Shawn knows the answer to this; we might have talked about our pasts during his team party, but I wasn’t specific about what I want.
We turn the whiteboards over, and I stare at what Shawn’s written. There are two words, and they perfectly match my own.
An equal.
“Told you I know you like the back of my hand,” Shawn says softly, and my skin heats. “You want—youdeservesomeone who isn’t intimidated by your success. Someone who looks at you and sees all your wonderful accomplishments and lifts you up. Someone who isn’t afraid. Someone who knows you’re worth more than a million tons of gold. I hope you never settle for less than that, Lacey girl. Promise me you won’t.”
The air is still and silent. I stare at him, and I swear my heart crawls up my chest and sits in my throat. I nod, and my eyes never leave his as I say, “I promise.”
“Good,” he murmurs, and he drags his thumb down my jaw. “Anything less than that means you’re out of their league. Hell, you’re out of everyone’s league.”
Nothisleague, I think, a fuzzy thought that bubbles in my brain as I wipe my board clean. That’s exactly how Shawn treats me, and I wonder if I’m lucky enough to be struck by lightning twice.
Doubtful.
Meeting him was fate; to expect someone just as wonderful is a pipe dream.
“Okay. Same question for Shawn,” Aiden says, and I wonder if he can sense the shift in the room.
This answer is simple. He told me when we were sitting in the parking lot of the hotel the other night as snow fell from the sky, but I would’ve known even if he didn’t share. Shawn wears his heart on his sleeve, a stitched little thing I can see from a mile away. He tries to hide it, but I know.
I feel it down in my soul.
We flip our boards, and I smile when I see we’ve written the same answer again.
To be seen.
“You know I see you, right?” I ask him, because I want him to be sure. I scoot across the couch until the scent of his cologne and shampoo tickles my nose. “Not just as the football coach. I see all of you, and gosh, I like what’s there. I always have. When this ends, I’m still going to see you, Shawn. The real, full you is one of the most marvelous things I’ve ever gotten to experience, and I feel lucky that we met all those months ago.”
He drops his board and pulls me into a hug. He’s become so familiar to me, and my body relaxes against his. I don’t care that Maggie and Aiden are watching and the jokes they’ll probably crack after. Right now, I just want to be in his arms.
“Thank you,” he whispers. “You really are my favorite person in the entire world. If they gave out plaques, you’d have a dozen of them.”
“Just a dozen?” I ask, and I laugh into his chest. “I need to step it up.”
“No. You’re perfect exactly as you are.”
Maggie clears her throat, and Shawn and I pull apart. I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear and bite back a smile.
“Great game, Aiden,” Shawn says. “I don’t think Lacey and I will have any problems convincing my parents this is real.”
