I still hadn’t figured out what I was going to do two months later. I’d been waiting to see if the option my heart was set on was going to be a possibility or not. Reading through the letter I’d finally received from the school, I hardly believed my eyes as I sat down on my mattress. “Holy shit.”

“Was that a good holy shit or more of an oh-fuck holy shit?” Christine swiveled around on the chair at her desk to stare at me.

“I think it was a little of both.”

She rolled across the floor and snatched the paper out of my hands. After scanning the first line, she jumped to her feet and screamed, “Holy shit! You got accepted?”

“I did.”

“Of course you did!” She tugged me to my feet, and we danced around the room. “With your grades and that personal statement you wrote; they would have been insane to turn you down. You’re going to be the best Master’s in Social Work student this school has ever had.”

I didn’t need an advanced degree to get a job since I could begin working as a social worker with a bachelor’s degree. But earning a master’s degree meant that I’d achieve the highest level of education for a social worker in Florida. I’d also be eligible for any job in my field after I completed three years of field experience.

“Am I crazy for wanting to stay in school for two more years? Shouldn’t I be ready to get a job and enter the real world?”

“Fuck no, you’re not crazy.” She nudged me towards the bed and sat on the mattress at my side. “It’s not like you’re running off to join the circus.”

“The circus?” I echoed. “Can people run off to join the circus anymore?”

She threw her hands up in the air and shrugged. “I have no idea. It was the best I could come up with the spur of the moment.”

“Have you ever even been to the circus?” I laughed. “Talk about totally random.”

“What can I say? I’m the queen of random.”

She really was good at blurting out completely random stuff at the oddest times, so the circus reference shouldn’t have surprised me too much. But I still didn’t get her point. “Just because I’m not doing something ridiculous like running off to the circus, doesn’t mean I’m not crazy.”

“No, but thinking you haven’t spent your whole life in the real world means you might be,” she pointed out. “You and I? We were born into the real world, and we didn’t escape it until we came to college. If you want to spend two more years here, then I say do it. Get your motherfucking master’s degree before you get a job. If anyone’s earned a reprieve from adulting, it’s you.”

“And you.” I wasn’t the only one in the room who’d had a hard life.

“But this isn’t about me right now. My path is already determined. We’re talking about you and the decision you need to make. Tell me, Faith. What do you want to do?”

I didn’t need to think about my answer. I knew what it was. “I want to stay at Southeastern and get my master’s degree.”

“Then that’s what you’re going to do.”

“There you go.” She patted me on the knee. “Decision made.”

“Now I just have to tell Dillon.”

“Faith?” She dragged my name out to about three syllables. “He knows you applied for grad school, right?”

“Yes, geesh! I’m not that bad.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at me with one brow lifted. “But?”

“But I might have mentioned it more in passing. I didn’t make a big deal about it because I was afraid to jinx my application. Like talking about it with him would make it too real or something.”

“Fuck being worried about shit like that anymore.” She wrapped her hands around my upper arms and shook me a little. “You’re only a couple of weeks away from graduating with honors. You got your acceptance letter to grad school. And you’ve got an amazing boyfriend who’s crazy in love with you. Live in the moment! Enjoy the amazing life you’re building and stop waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

She was right. My life was pretty damn amazing. I needed to worry less and enjoy it more. “Do you really think Dillon loves me?”

“Oh my God!” She shook me again. “Have you guys still not told each other yet? You’re killing me here, smalls. Pull up your big girl panties and throw it out there.”

Ever since I’d put a name to what I was feeling for Dillon while I’d been sitting in Sarah’s office, I’d come so close to saying those three little words to him. But there was a different four-letter word that kept holding me back. Fear. “What if he doesn’t say it back?”

“You’re barely going to be able to get the words out before he tosses you over his shoulder and shows you how exactly how much he loves you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Beyond a shadow of a doubt. Pinkie swear.” She let go of my arms and lifted one hand up with her pinkie finger sticking out so we could shake them. “If I’m wrong, I promise to run off to the circus with you.”

“You’re ridiculous,” I laughed, shaking my head.

“I am, and that’s never going to change.” She picked the letter up off the mattress and shoved it in my hand. “But it’s time for you to stop being ridiculous and go give your hottie the big news. All of it.”

She practically shoved me out the door and dragged me down to where her junker was parked in the lot next to our dorm. Before I knew it, she’d driven me over to Dillon’s place and I was standing in front of his door. When it opened, she honked her horn and gave me the thumbs up sign.

“Hey, baby.” Dillon leaned down and pressed a kiss against my lips, giving Christine a wave before pulling me inside the house. “I didn’t realize you were coming over so early. I thought we were meeting up later tonight. Didn’t you need to finish that term paper and get it turned in?”

“Yeah. It was easier than I expected, so it didn’t take as long as I thought it would. I emailed it to my professor about thirty minutes ago.” I followed him into the living room, running my fingers along the edge of the envelope in the pocket of my shorts.

“You want to do anything special tonight, now that we have more time?” He dropped down onto the couch and pulled me onto his lap, nuzzling against my neck. “Or are you still cool with binge watching a show and eating takeout?”

“It sounds perfect to me. My brain literally feels like it’s dead.”

“With all the studying you’ve been doing lately, I’m not surprised. You need to relax, and I’m looking forward to helping you out with that.” I shifted on his lap, turning around to straddle him. “You’ve got that serious look in your eyes. Everything okay?”

“Yeah.” I nodded, fiddling with a lock of hair that’d fallen onto his forehead and smoothing it back. “But there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

I felt his body tense beneath mine, and his hands tightened on my hips. “We need to talk is usually code for bad news.”

“This isn’t bad,” I reassured him as I relaxed in his hold. Christine was right. Dillon was as crazy about me as I was him. I didn’t need to be worried about how he’d react when I pulled up my big girl panties and told him how I felt. But that didn’t mean I was dying to do it, so I decided to give him my big news first. “Remember when I mentioned that I was applying to grad school?”

“Yeah. Of course I do. When you talk, I listen. Always.”

I couldn’t help myself. I pressed my lips against his for a kiss because he somehow always knew exactly what to say to make me feel better. “Which is why you’re so damn perfect for me and shouldn’t worry when I say we need to talk.”

“I can’t make any promises, baby. You’re too important for me to ever take you for granted. If you come to me looking worried and saying we need to talk, then I’m going to be concerned.”

“Well, this isn’t one of those times when you need to be concerned. I have good news.” I pulled the envelope out of my pocket and handed it to him. “Or at least I think it is, and I hope you do too.”

He pulled the letter out, skimming it quickly before his head jerked up and he grinned at me. “You got in?”

“Yup. It looks like I’m going to be a grad student.”

“That’s fantastic, baby. I’m so proud of you!” He brushed his lips against mine and gave the bottom one a little nip with his teeth. “You’re going to kick grad school’s ass, just like you did undergrad.”

“It’s not going to be easy,” I warned him. “The tuition waiver program will cover me for grad school, but the stipend I get for living expenses only lasts until I’m twenty-three. I’m either going to have to take an accelerated course load to try to finish in two semesters plus the summer, or I’m going to have to juggle a job and my classes the second year. But either way, I’m not going to have as much time for you as I do now.”

“And I’m going to be working full-time for my dad. I’m sure my schedule will suck, which is only going to make things more difficult,” he groaned, dropping his head against my shoulder.

“It might be hard, but we’ll figure it out.” We had to because I refused to think otherwise.

His head jerked up and he searched my face with dark eyes. “I might have a solution to our problem.”

“Oh, yeah? What is it?”

“Move in with me.”