Page 58 of The Perfect Steal

The screen changed again, and this time, instead of a picture, there were the words,Will you be my girlfriend?

I gasped and looked up at him, trying to decide if this was for real. “Is this for me?” I asked, pointing to the screen.

Nate nodded. “I’ve thought about asking you to be my girlfriend for a while now. I know we haven’t gone on many official dates, but all of our projects and our moments texting each other has been enough for me to know I want to be with you.”

I slid down enough that I could put my arms around his neck, even though he was still kneeling.“I would love nothing better, Nate the Great.”

He leaned in, and our lips met, my nerves all pulsing at the same time, reacting a lot like the electricity I’d felt so many other times when we’d touched before.

As he pulled back, his grin caused my insides to go haywire. “I had to steal a kiss before you changed your mind.”

“As long as you don’t leave me again, you can steal all the kisses you want.”

Epilogue

Brynn

“Some mail came for you,” John said, heading out to the back porch.

It was spring before graduation, and Nate and I were sitting outside, enjoying a relaxing afternoon with no sports impeding us. The past year had been a whirlwind, but overall, it had been a good one for me and Nate.

He’d made it a tradition to honor my sister with all her favorite things for the anniversary of her death, and each time I watched him do Chinese jump rope, I couldn’t imagine my life without him.

It had taken some adjustments, but his father had finally come around and hadn’t missed a baseball game or dance recital since their conversation. They were still working on the finishing touches of the app they’d started designing years ago, but it was a more intuitive way to match people up for dates, instead of the standard looks. I was excited for them but told Nate I would not be taking it for a test drive.

Nate had pulled his GPA up and had applied to Texas Tech, deciding to get some more training in coding. The group gave him a hard time, but he knew they weren’t going to dump him just for being smart. A few of them had even asked him for help in their classes.

I’d seen my mother once since she left, across a crowded store, and as much as it hurt to not have all the answers I wanted for why she couldn’t come back to us, the divorce had helped my dad figure out that his most important job was as a father.

I read the top corner of the packet John had dropped into my lap, surprised to see the University of Texas.

After applying to several out-of-state schools and getting accepted, I’d finally applied to an in-state school. I was no longer the desperate girl trying to get out of Pecan Flatts because of the haunting memories. Being closer to home while playing basketball had been something I’d thought about more and more as the time neared to making decisions. At under a three-hour drive home, the University of Texas would put me a fifteen-minute drive away from Nate—if I got in, anyway.

“Open it, Miller,” Nate joked, his arm wrapped around my shoulders.

I used my finger to open the envelope, taking out the stack of papers. “‘We are happy to inform you that you’ve been accepted into the University of Texas with a full-ride scholarship to play basketball.’ Full-ride?” I said, not even believing it.

“Yes!” John said, fist-pumping and then looking embarrassed in front of Nate.

“That will be awesome,” Nate said. “If that’s what you want.”

I glanced over at him and nodded, throwing my arms around him and pulling tight. “Closer to you is where I want to be.” I leaned in, giving him a soft kiss.

My life wasn’t perfect, but it was heading where I had hoped. Continuing on to happiness.