“I was terrified,” Sawyer admits. “Had no idea what I was doing.”
“And now look at you. Sergeant Edwards.” Diane beams with pride. “Your father would be so proud.”
I squeeze Sawyer’s hand. “I’m proud too.”
“We should get going,” Sawyer says eventually. “Early day tomorrow.”
Diane hugs us both goodbye, but pulls Sawyer aside while I’m getting my coat. I can hear her whisper something to him, and he smiles.
On the drive back to my house, I’m quiet, thinking about how perfectly the evening went. How welcomed Diane made me feel, how natural it was to be there with them.
“Your mom is wonderful,” I say finally.
“She already likes you. I could tell.”
“How?”
“She didn’t interrogate you about your job, your family, or your five-year plan. That means you passed the test.”
I laugh. “There was a test?”
“There’s always a test.”
When we reach my house, Sawyer walks me to the door. I turn to face him, my hands on his chest.
“Thank you for tonight. For including me in your family.”
I’m about to kiss him when I remember something. “Oh! I almost forgot. What did that text mean the other night? The one with all the random words?”
Sawyer grins. “Which text?”
“After we… you know. In the patrol car. You sent me Ida or something like that and then there was a bunch of words. It didn’t make any sense.”
“Ah, that.” His eyes are sparkling with mischief.
“It looked like gibberish to me.”
“That’s because you don’t know the police phonetic alphabet.”
“Police what?”
“I is for Ida, L is for Lincoln, O is for Ocean—” He watches my face to see if I'm following.
I’m starting to understand. “So you sent me…”
“Ida stands for I. Lincoln for L. Ocean for O. Victor for E. Edward for... well, you get it.” He grins. “I-L-O-V-E-Y-O-U”
I work it out in my head. I push my glasses up my nose. “I-L-O-V-E-Y-O-U.”
My breath catches. “I love you in police code.”
My heart melts completely. “You’re such a nerd.”
That's the most romantic thing anyone's ever done for me.
“A nerd who loves you.”
“A nerd who I love back.”
