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)
This place was stuffed to the brim full of cool people. People I liked being around, and people who didn’t treat you any differently if you were a multimillionaire or just getting by, like me.
I looked over and saw that at a booth, next to Chase, even my mom was here.
And I swore another tear was about to stream down my face.
“Chase got you to come out to a brewery, huh?” I asked as I walked over and hugged Mom.
She beamed up at me. “I was pretty exhausted after yesterday, but I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” she said. “Both my babies under one roof. And did you see they have a boozy mango cocktail here?”
My mom was mango obsessed, and already she’d found her favorite thing on the menu.
“I heard somebody say mango,” Rush, the brewery owner, called out from behind the bar. “Coming right up.”
Mom clapped her hands together. “Yep. I think I’m going to love it here.”
My heart was so full it could burst.
Landry found me soon after, coming up to put his arms around me as Chase and Adam got caught up in a conversation with my mom.
“My marshmallow,” he said softly near my ear, pressing a kiss to my earlobe and gently swaying with me in his arms.
It felt like a whole different world, so long ago, when he’d first called me that. It had come to mean something even sweeter with time—I was proud to be something soft and sweet for him. Well, hard and sweet, sometimes.
“When in the fresh hell did I get so lucky?” I asked him.
“I don’t think it’s luck,” Landry said. “You were so qualified for this job.”
“Not just the job, though,” I said, turning and looking into his eyes. “You. Us. A little over a year ago, I still thought I wouldn’t be ready for a serious relationship for years.”
“Tell me about it,” he said. “I don’t know how I deserve you, but I’m not complaining.”
“Hey. Let me show you something,” I said, pulling out my phone. I opened the screen to show him a picture of a small house. It was set into the mountains, surrounded by pine trees filtering in beautiful light, like everything here in Jade River.
“That’s such a cute house.”
“It really is,” I said, staring down at the screen. My heart beat a little bit faster. “Apparently, this little beauty is up for rent starting in January. And that’ll be right around when my six-month apartment lease here ends,” I told Landry. I watched as his expression changed rapidly, from neutral curiosity to excitement.
“Yes,” he blurted out before I could say anything. “Immediately yes.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Landry, I haven’t even said anything yet,” I told him, giving him a little playful shove. “There’s no guarantees, obviously, and we’re in a super competitive rental market. But… if you were up for it, we could do this together. And I could actually split the rent with you, with my new job.”
Inside, I knew that Landry had enough money to buy most of the houses on the entire block, if he really wanted to. But he also knew how important it was for me to contribute, equally, and for the first time, I knew I could.
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, and I know renting even a tiny, affordable place doesn’t make that much sense, because you have the Denver penthouse too—”
Landry broke me off with a kiss. “I would be so happy to split a place with you, Jamie,” he murmured, taking a deep breath. He rested his forehead on mine. “We can still spend some time at my LA house, too, but… I’d ditch the Denver penthouse, Jamie. I’d love to be here with you.”
Excitement filled every cell in my body. “We’re really going to do this,” I said.
“Yes,” he whispered again, and I’d never heard anything sweeter.
For so long, I’d thought true love would be like getting whisked away with a strong, powerful, beautiful man, being pulled along on a ride. And Landry was certainly all of those things, but our love was nothing like the storybook tales.
It did feel equal. Both of our lives had only opened up and blossomed from knowing one another.
Nothing felt off-limits now.
Big things. Marriage. Kids. A full, real life together.
All of it felt possible, now, instead of a far-flung dream.
Soon we headed out onto the big open back patio at Jade Brewery. The karaoke machine got fired up, and everyone joined out back. The wind picked up for a second, shaking a big tree in the back landscaped area and sending a bunch of little yellow-orange blooms floating into the air. The little petals floated downward, sprinkling over the grass and glowing in the light of the sunset.
“Look at that,” Landry said, gazing out. “Our own little Colorado snowglobe, even in summer.”