Page 148 of Forty, Flirty & Fall Inn

"You hacked mine first."

"That's...fair."I set Buttercup down, but she immediately presses against my legs like she's afraid I'll disappear."Luke, what is this?"

He stands, looking like every Clark Kent wet dream that has ever existed."It's...an apology?A declaration?Possibly breaking and entering, though I'd argue the door code you gave me implies consent?—"

"Luke."

“Christ, I’m fucking rambling."He takes a breath."I've spent the last two and a half weeks trying to figure out how to forgive you for lying.Then I realized that was the wrong question."

"What's the right question?"

"How to forgive myself for walking away."He steps closer, and Buttercup helpfully positions herself between us like the world's shortest chaperone."You made a desperate decision to save something you loved.I made a cold decision to protect myself.Guess which one I regret more?"

"Luke, you don’t have to?—“

"I'm not finished."He pulls out his phone, shows me something."I deleted my SecureMatch profile.The whole thing.But first, I hard-coded something into the system."

I look at the screen.

It's code, elegant and complex and completely unnecessary for a dating app.

"What is this?"

"It's us.Written into the architecture.No matter what parameters get entered, no matter how the algorithm evolves, in the system we always match."He sets the phone aside."You hacked your way to me.I'm coding us into permanence."

"That's..."I'm crying again.Definitely crying."That's the nerdiest thing anyone's ever done for me."

"I also stole your goat.Or rather I borrowed it.With permission.From Melody.”

"You conspired?"

"Conspired is harsh," Luke says."Collaborated.With livestock."

Buttercup half-shrieks agreement, then tries to eat my hospital visitor badge.

"No more eating important things," I tell her, but I'm smiling.

Smiling so hard my face hurts.

"Sage," Luke says, and his voice is serious now."I need you to know something.I fell for you before I knew about the hack.That first night, when you were chasing Buttercup in your pajamas, covered in murder-shower water, making jokes while your world fell apart—that's when it started."

"When what started?"

"When you started rewriting my code."He touches his chest."I'm a different operating system now.Sage 2.0.Completely corrupted by feelings and goats and the absolute certainty that I want to debug life with you."

"Oh my god."I'm laugh-crying now."Did you just use debugging as a romantic metaphor?"

"Too much?"

"It's perfect."I step over Buttercup, who protests being excluded from the moment."You're perfect.Perfectly imperfect and absolutely?—"

He kisses me before I can finish.

It's soft and certain and tastes like coming home.

Buttercup immediately tries to insert herself between us, because goats have no sense of moment.

"I love you," he says against my lips."Present tense.Current state.Permanent condition."