“You, too,” I replied. “I love you.”
I stared at my message and I watched the two little ticks next to my message turn blue as Megan undoubtedly read it. I waited for a moment, with baited breath, wondering if she would reply back immediately or send back an emoji in order to avoid answering back at all.
I started to panic suddenly. What if this was too soon? What if she didn’t actually feel the same way about me? What if… My doubts were endless, and I was starting to feel like an idiot for sending her that message.
At that moment, my phone rang, and I knew instinctively it was Megan without even looking down at my screen. I almost dropped my phone in an attempt to answer it.
“Hello.”
“Hello?” Megan’s tone was disbelieving.
I smiled. “Umm…yes.”
“Seriously?” She sounded incredulous and happy all at the same time and I hoped that meant that despite the fact that she had been taken off guard, she was happy about my declaration.
“Uh… Megan…”
“I cannot believe you texted that to me!” she said, cutting me off.
I laughed. “That was poor judgement on my part.”
“That’s your defense?” she replied. “Poor judgement?”
“Well… I felt it in that moment and I wanted you to know how I felt…immediately,” I said.
“You could have called,” she pointed out.
I smiled. “In hindsight, I should have called. Actually, I should have waited till we were face to face to say that to you.”
“That would have been the better moment,” she agreed.
“I just couldn’t wait any longer,” I said. “It’s a weak defense, but it’s the only one I’ve got.”
She was silent for a moment. “Do you really?” she asked quietly, in a tone that was serious and hesitant.
“Do I what?” I asked.
r />
“Do you really…love me?” Megan asked.
I smiled. “I do,” I told her, without missing a beat. “I love you, Megan.”
“Wow,” she breathed. “I did not expect that when I woke up this morning.”
“Is that…a good thing?” I asked nervously, conscious of the fact that she hadn’t said it back to me yet.
“It’s an amazing thing, Phil,” Megan assured me. “I never expected for a guy like you to feel that way about someone like me.”
“Someone like you?” I repeated, in confusion. “What are you talking about? You’re perfect.”
“Please…”
“No, really,” I said. “You are perfect to me.”
“Phil?”
“Yes?”