The Thing About Love

“Because I love you,”

“You’re going to kiss me, aren’t you?”

He pretended to consider this. “Well, with all the emotions flying around, it just feels . . . expected.”

“But I’ll be gone. A lot. And you’d be left alone, in a place that neither of us thinks of as home. It’s one thing when I only had myself to think about, but it’s not the life I want for us.” He smiled tenderly. “Somebody has to be around to teach our gaggle of towheaded girls how to make fire with the ass end of a lightning bug.”

But when you told me at the hospital that you’d missed me, it was like everything else fell away. I knew in that moment that the thing I want most is to spend the rest of my life with the one person who drives me crazy in all the best possible ways.”

“And no, not just because you’re my partner.” His eyes held hers. “Because I love you. I think I’ve always loved you, from that very first morning in the auditorium, when you stood up and inspired our whole class with your speech. You amazed me every day at the Academy, and now that we’ve reconnected—and you’re actually being nice to me for a change,” he added with a smile, “those feelings have only gotten stronger.”

“Jessica . . . you have to know that I would step in front of a bullet for you without even thinking about it.”

“Do you know how long I’ve waited for you to look at me this way?”

“Yes.” Her voice cracked with emotion. “I’ve missed you every day you’ve been gone. So much that it hurts.”

“Do you have any idea, John Shepherd, how close you came to turning my life into a Nicholas Sparks book? I never would’ve forgiven you for that.”

“Just my dumb luck, I guess.”