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But one look at the contents of that box and I dropped headfirst into the feeling, accepted my love for this man as it fused itself directly to my soul.
Ilovedthis man.
Because of who he was.
Because of how he treated me.
Because of what wasinthe box.
One sticker was missing from the top sheet, and it was missing—I saw now—because he’d stuck it in my planner, placed it on my schedule of events for that day. He’d positioned it right in the time slot I’d blocked for the game, then had used my pen to draw an arrow down through midnight, blocking off our time together like I normally would.
But it wasn’t the arrow he’d drawn (in proper matching ink), or even the placement of the sticker that sent me tumbling headfirst into love with Joel.
It was what wasonthe stickers that got me.
A little cartoon image of a hockey player holding a woman.
A hockey player that looked like Joel. A woman who looked like me.
“My sister sent me a listing on Etsy for something she wanted for her birthday and the stickers happened to come up,” he said like it was no big deal. “I thought you’d like them for your planning stuff, so I had the artist put something together.”
I inhaled again. Sharply.
And my exhale was shaky.
Mostly because the little drawing sent my heart thudding, made my lungs work hard, made it so I felt like I couldn’t get enough air.
Because…
Goddamn.
This wassucha small thing—for him to get some stickers made for me. But also…it was such a thoughtful thing. Mostly because it showed exactly how well he knew me.
The small things.
The day-to-day stuff.
Thatwas the most important.
I felt that realization deep in my soul, knew he’d shown meIwas important time and time again.
Important tohim.
He showed he paid attention to me.
He showed he never found me lacking or annoying or someone he wanted to avoid—even if his pregame plans were shifted around because I needed to look at contracts.
“Joel,” I whispered.
He touched my cheek, gave me those deep green eyes. “Yeah, Rosie baby?”
“I—”
Rosie baby.
My words stoppered up in my throat even as I wanted to bare it all, as I wanted to tell him exactly what he meant to me, exactly what I’d realized and how safe he’d made me.
But…I also wanted to sit in this moment, tofeelwhat he’d made me feel.
