The crowd erupts in cheers. I pump my fist to the sky while I continue to kiss her—even with a little tongue—and the stadium laughs. When I pull away, I smirk at her and then lean back in my chair.

She blinks a few times and then says, “Did we just kiss on a jumbotron?”

“Yeah, Pips, we did. You can check that off your bucket list.” I wink just as my phone buzzes in my pocket. I take it out, and sure enough, there’s the picture I was hoping to get.

I flash it to her, a picture of us kissing on the big screen, my clenched fist up in the air.

“Did you…did you plan this entire thing?”

“Of course.” As I’m slowly learning, I will do anything that brings you true joy. “We have to make sure we’re checking things off that list, Pips. Because once we do, it means we can add more. Together.”

“How did it go?”

I catch the football and toss it back to Sanders.

“Like clockwork,” I say. “Thank you for helping me score that suite. It was perfect. After the whole kiss cam thing, we snuggled and watched the game, even though we couldn’t care less what was going on.”

“Not a problem. Glad it worked. How do you think she’s feeling right now?”

“Good,” I say. “Last night, when I was at her door, I asked her another question.”

“What was it this time?”

“Asked her what’s one thing she wished Matt did different in the bedroom?”

“Perfect. That’s the question we were considering, right? To show our progress with her?”

“Yes.”

“And what did she answer?”

“She said she wished he was more adventurous.”

Sanders nods and tosses me the ball.

Ever since I got back from Camp Haven, I’ve had weekly meetings with him. We talk about me and my relationship with Mika and my mom—he doesn’t just focus on marriages but all kinds of relationships, which I like—and of course, I’ve been heavily focused on educating myself on what Scottie experienced in her marriage. No man is perfect, so I know I won’t ever care for her perfectly. But that man made vows to Scottie. He declared that he’d do everything in his ability to love her well, and he didn’t take those vows seriously. It just pisses me off, as not only did she learn to devalue her needs, but her self-confidence suffered terribly.

I have also learned that even though she might seem happy on the outside, she’s probably comparing every new moment I have with her to her ex. Sanders said it’s a natural thing to do, especially when it comes to someone who was in a mentally absent relationship.

Which is exactly what Scottie endured.