Page 129 of End Game

Three and a half minutes later, the door swings open to reveal my best friend—my girlfriend.

“Hey, baby,” I say, and her grin lights up her entire face.

“Hey.”

Feeling like a bumbling giant, I thrust a bouquet of sunflowers at her. “For you.”

They’re her favorite flowers, the ones I’d bring her after every soccer game and for her school dances.

Her face melts. “Thanks, B.”

I duck down and press a soft kiss to her cheek. Her hand fists in my coat and pulls me towards her for a real kiss. Mindful of the night ahead, I keep it short and sweet.

“Hi,” she says.

“I missed you,” I admit.

“We had lunch together six hours ago.”

“And that was five hours and fifty-eight minutes too long.”

Diana sighs. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Love me?”

She smiles. “Yeah, I think I can do that.”

I nod towards the flowers. “You should put those in water.”

“Come on in, then. It’ll take me a minute.” She pushes the door open and steps aside to let me in.

Johanna and the minions are sitting on the couch, watching a reality TV show. I nod towards the soccer players, who don’t pay me any attention.

Diana fills a cup with water and sets the flowers in the middle of the kitchen table. I kind of like that she’s sharing them with her roommates. If flowers make her happy, I’ll buy her flowers every week. What’s most important to me is making her happy, and I’ll do anything I can to make her smile.

She turns to me. “Ready?”

“I’ve been ready since I was fourteen,” I say, and I’m rewarded with a giggle and a smile.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Diana says, pulling on her coat. “Just because it didn’t happen until sixteen for me…”

I hold my hand out for her. “Baby, I’d wait forever for you.”

She takes my hand. “Well, now you don’t have to wait anymore.”

None of her roommates comment on our departure. She closes the door behind her and then tugs on my hand until we’re face to face. Diana kisses me again, more thoroughly this time.

“So what’s the plan?”

“Well, I don’t think we’re going to make it into the city for the most epic first date ever,” I say slowly. “So how about we try that over winter break?”

“I’m down.”

“Tonight, I thought we could do dinner and maybe a movie?” I suggest. “We can talk and snuggle a little. Then I’ll have my second dessert and—”

She stops in the middle of the sidewalk. “Second dessert? You were serious about that?”

“Baby, I want to taste you pretty much all the time. Now that I’ve had a taste, I don’t think I’ll be able to live without the flavor of you on my tongue.”