“It was hard to hear him, but she turned around, and when she faced him again he was smiling broadly. He pulled his glove off and held up three fingers, then kissed his palm and pressed it to the glass. She pressed her hand against his, and said, “Good luck.”Shea skated off with a nod.“Oh. My. God. Y’all disgust me. That was straight out of some sappy love story,” Harper complained.”

“Elli couldn’t help it, she had to. She smiled before saying, “Nothing much, but Shea?”“Yeah?” he asked wearily as she smirked up at him.“I’ll never break your heart. I’ll never make you cry,” she continued to sing the chorus of the well known Backstreet Boys song as Shea turned beet red with embarrassment.“Grace, I swear I’m going to kill you!” Shea yelled.”

“Elli, don’t cry!”“I’m sorry,” she said, sniffing as she tried to stop crying, “You’re like a dream, Shea, no one does that anymore.”“Sure they do, come here.” She went into his arms willingly, rubbing her nose against his shirt, taking in his heavenly scent. “I meant every word, Elli. You’re amazing.”How in the world did she get so lucky?And why couldn’t she believe him?”

“A slow sly smirk formed on Lucas’ lips and Fallon took in a sharp breath. “I'm not playing daddy. I am daddy and you are mommy. Shouldn’t we be making out instead of fighting?” Fallon rolled her eyes, poking him harder in the chest. “get your mind out of the gutter Lucas!” She poked him again, and he took her finger in his hand as he grinned down at her. “Poke me one more time Fallon Parker, and I’ll poke you back, and not with my finger.”

“No, guys are stupid at my age. I want a man with some age to him, someone who knows his way around the bedroom.' Fallon scoffed at that. 'Good luck with that! Older men can't keep it up without help, which would involve you giving a lot of head or him going on medication, or both.' 'Oh yeah,' Audrey said as a look of digust came over her face, 'back to men my age.”

“Lucas hated the word. It was so easy to say, but it could honestly cut someone in half if they thought for a second that they were. Lucas was a confident man, but with his dyslexia, he never felt like he was smart. Fallon had never made him feel like he was less of a man; she always treated him like he was the smartest man in the room, until now. Now she had called him it.”

“Say it again.”She giggled before she said, “I love you.”“Oh, baby, I love you. More than you’ll ever know.”