Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
“I actually have one really serious topic to discuss with you,” Jamie said as he cuddled close to me.
“Anything. Talk to me.”
“You are a grade-A blanket hogger at night.”
I turned to him, my jaw dropped in mock horror. “I am not.”
“You are,” he said with a grimace. “I hate to break it to you.”
“Wild accusations,” I said, a smile spreading over my face.
“I didn’t notice it when we slept together in the hotel, because that comforter was gigantic. But here, I noticed it, last week. When we first got in bed, we had equal portions. But when I woke up for a second at three in the morning, you had most of it.”
“God,” I said. “I didn’t know I was such a monster in my sleep.”
“Of course, there was only one solution, and that was to cuddle up to you as close as I could and be the big spoon.”
I hummed, leaning over to kiss his head. “Good solution.”
“But once the weather gets hotter, that ain’t going to cut it.”
“When the weather gets hotter, we’re both going to sleep naked with one thin sheet, and you know it.”
“Sounds tempting,” Jamie murmured.
“Good.”
As we lapsed into a comfortable silence, a slight rustle came from the bushes nearby.
“What was that?” Jamie asked, furrowing his brow.
“Um,” I said, and I had no clue how to finish. My eyes scanned the perimeter of the grass, looking for more movement.
We both propped ourselves up on our elbows to look, and a moment later, a flash of paws and fur came bolting out of a shrub.
“Sprinkle,” I said. “Thank God. I was sure it was going to be a skunk and we were about to have our romantic moment severely ruined.”
“Sprinkly-boy,” Jamie said, reaching out to give him pets. “You scared the living hell out of us, but you’re cute, so it’s okay.”
“I think he’s wondering where his food is,” I said. “We should head back and put some out.”
“Definitely. But I want to come back to this spot next time I’m here, okay?” Jamie asked. “It’s so beautiful. And I don’t want you to have a bunch of weird, old emotions attached to it. We can make new memories here, you know?”
I nodded. “New memories. I like the sound of that.”
Jamie and I folded up the blanket and Sprinkle followed us every step of the way back down the path. We put out a bowl of food and water for him and he lapped it up, clearly thankful for the treat.
When we were back in the kitchen, Jamie yawned.
“Ready for a night of Blanket Stealers: Extreme Edition?” I asked him.
He wrapped his arms around my shoulders, looking up into my eyes. “Absolutely. But tonight, I’m fighting back.”
“You’re on.”
We hopped into bed, and the simplicity of the evening was stunning. My big, modern home had felt like nothing but a lonely prison for the past year, and now it suddenly felt alive. Jamie’s light radiated into every corner of my life, really, and I was starting to forget what it had even felt like without him in it.
I didn’t want to imagine life without him in it.
I couldn’t keep my hands off of him once we were in bed. And by the time we were drifting off to sleep, Jamie’s words from earlier rang out again in my mind.
We can make new memories, he’d told me.
I realized that that was what I’d been missing, more than anything. Someone to make memories with. Someone who wanted to think about a future with me, whatever that future might bring.
Someone who’d been patient when I’d been fearful, so that I could return the favor when he had been fearful.
A true partnership, I thought.
Whatever form it would end up taking, I knew that’s what I had with Jamie. And I desperately wanted to see how many memories we’d make.
EPILOGUE
JAMIE, 18 MONTHS LATER
My fingers flew over the screen of my cheap old cell phone, tapping on the wrong things about four times before I finally managed to properly call Landry’s cell. A beachy breeze blew over my face as I headed out from work after a long morning.
I’d just taken a quick detour toward the ocean for a relaxing five-minute walk, and had received a phone call that would change my life.
“Hello, my love,” Landry finally answered, just like he always did.
“I got it,” I blurted out before he even had the chance to say more. “I got the job, Landry. They actually wanted me.”
I’d applied to a job at a brunch restaurant that was about a billion times fancier than the kitchen I’d been working for—and the place was in Denver, Colorado.
Denver.
Somewhere I never thought I’d end up, and somewhere I’d never even wanted to be in the past.
But over the past year, not only had my love for the mountains grown, but Mom had also admitted that she’d gotten the bug to try moving closer to Chase. We’d discussed it one night earlier this year, and had been shocked when both of us had the same idea.