“Jaysus. You’re kidding, right?”

“No! I’m not. I wish I were.” I hang my head.

“Well damn girl, there’s no need to be down about it. Be happy you found your one! Not many people can say that.”

“I know, but it seems like forever until I graduate.”

She thumps me on the side of the head. “Get a hold of yourself, you fucknut. It’s not like you’re in school in China, for Pete’s sake. You’re an hour away from him. Of all people I know, you’re the last one I thought I’d be having this talk with. You, Cate Forbes, pining away for your guy.” She shakes her head. “Remind me never to fall in love. You look like a damn fool.” Then she makes a funny face and pokes out her tongue and I can’t help but giggle.

“It is ridiculous. I can’t argue with you there. But one day, you’ll see what I’m talking about. It’s like something takes a hold of you and won’t let you go.”

Jenna gives me this priceless look and says, “Girl, you know what that is, don’t you? It’s the damn sex spell. Your slut gene has been activated and you’ve gotten a taste of that orgasmic DNA. That’s all it is.”

“Do you believe there’s only one person on this earth for you?”

“What? Hell no!”

“Drew doesn’t either, but he does think it’s difficult to find one that can make you happy.”

“Yeah, I’ll go with that. But I think the sea is loaded with tons of fish. You just have to use the right bait.”

Jenna and Drew are probably right, but whatever the case, I’m glad Drew and I found each other.

“So, Key West with me then?”

“Yeah.”

“No surly Cate?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, but if you do, I swear I’ll kick your ass.”

And she almost ends up doing exactly that. The first couple of days I’m fine, loving the warm temps and the beach, but after day four, I’m over this place. Every day and night we do the same thing and Jenna’s agenda is completely different from mine. All I want to do by this time is go home. To Drew. I want to get away from all the partying because I’m not into it at all. The sticky floors where everyone has spilled their sugary drinks, or worse, and the gooey seats, where you’re afraid to sit, make me cringe to think about. And then I have to fend off drunk and horny dudes, who are kind of sad and pitiful, but completely annoying with the way they pour their drinks all over me. Each night when we get home, I immediately jump in the shower, while Jenna promptly passes out. By day five, I’m doing a mental hourly countdown until I can leave this horrible place.

Saturday morning, I practically have to beat Jenna to get her to wake up. Of course, she didn’t go to bed until five a.m. Our flight is at ten, so we need to leave for the airport at eight. After four attempts, I finally get her going. When we land in Indy, Drew is waiting at the baggage claim and Jenna looks like a worn out hooker.

“Don’t ask,” she says as she walks straight past him and takes the first seat she finds.

“Is she okay?” he asks.

“Hung over. I had to beat her up to get her out of bed. I’m so glad to be home. I’m never leaving you again.”

“I like the sound of that,” he says.

“No, I’m serious. It was awful. I never should’ve gone. It was not my scene at all.”

He turns to me and runs his finger down my cheek. “I’m so sorry. I was hoping you’d have a great break.” Then his arms are around me and I bury myself in his embrace.

The luggage starts dropping and I reluctantly pull myself away. Drew collects our bags and Jenna, and we head to his car.

“I think we need to stay here tonight. Jenna’s not in any shape to drive and needs sleep and so do I. With you.”

“That can be arranged.”

When we get to Drew’s, he takes Jenna to the extra bedroom and she crawls into bed. That’s the last we hear from her until later that night. Drew and I sit in the living room and catch up for a while. I tell him all about my awful week, but instead of feeling sorry for me, he laughs. He thinks it’s funny that I hated the clubs and bars, and hated staying out late with Jenna.

“Why is it so funny?”

“Selfishly, because you weren’t looking for other guys.”

“So, you are happy I was miserable?”

“Uh, yeah.” And his smile speaks a million words. Drew McKnight may have been a little jealous before I went to Key West. But now, he’s a happy guy, knowing I was miserable there. And it’s my turn to smile. I lean over and kiss him. Then he adds, “By the way, I wanted to wait until you got back to share this news with you.” He’s almost rubbing his hands together.

“What news?”

“I’ve been named chief resident for next year.”

“What? That’s awesome! Congratulations!” Now I really lay a kiss on him. “I can’t believe you’ve been holding this in!”

“Yeah, I know. It’s been kind of hard.” He’s so excited; he grabs me and squeezes all the air out of me.

“Drew,” I squeak, “Can’t breathe!”

“Oh,” he instantly releases me. “Sorry ’bout that.” Then we both laugh.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe this. This is so huge for you. This means you’ll be able to practically name your fellowship then, right? I mean, don’t chiefs carry a lot of clout?”

Never being one to boast, he says in an understated way, “A fair amount. I think I want Charleston, though. Is that okay with you?”

He’s asking me as though I’m a part of his future. We’ve kind of hinted at this sort of thing, but this is no hint this time.

“Are you asking because you want my opinion or because you want to know if I want to go with you?”

His hand cups my cheek and all the cheer turns serious. “Cate, I’m asking because I want you by my side, wherever I go. I want you to be happy with that decision. I’m not going to choose just for me anymore.”

Wow. My head drops down as I stare at my lap. This is an unexpected discussion. Not that I don’t want to have it. I love Drew and at some point I figured we would have this chat, but I didn’t think it would be today.

“I take it from your reaction we’re traveling different roads.”

I quickly say, “No, not at all! I was only thinking I didn’t expect to be talking about this today. I want to be with you, too, Drew. And to answer you, I would love to return to Charleston, as long as I don’t have to live with my parents.”

His eyes grow dark and hooded as he says, “You won’t be living with anyone but me. And at some point our kids.”

I’m sure my brows shoot up to the heavens when he makes this announcement. Then he adds, “That is if you want kids. I’m willing to do anything your way, Cate.”

“I want kids. No more than three, though. That’s my limit.”

“Fine with me. But we won’t work on that until a few more years. We can practice for the time being.”

“I like that idea.” We get a little practice in that night, and the next morning, Jenna and I head back to Purdue. For once, I’m ready to hit the books and finish up this semester.

My birthday weekend arrives in April, and Drew says he has something special planned. On Friday, another spectacular flower arrangement is delivered. It contains all the special flowers he gave me before: roses, lilies, calla lilies, white carnations, orchids, and tulips. This time, I know what they all mean. Jenna’s jaw hits the floor and I take my finger and push it back up to close her mouth.

“Fuck, are you spoiled.” That’s all she says.

“Yes, I am. He hasn’t mentioned anything to you about this weekend, has he?”

“Not a word. Want me to ask Ben?”

“Yeah, would you?”

She picks up her phone and makes the call. I can hear them chatting, but when she hangs up, she has a sly look on her face. “Don’t ask me a thing. I promised Ben I wouldn’t tell you.”

“That is not fair. You’re my best friend.”

“Yeah, but I’m Ben’s sister and he’s Drew’s best friend. And that puts me awkwardly between a rock and a hard place. So I’m screwed either way.”