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“I did, yes. What about you?”
“Like a baby.” He winked and set a full, steaming mug of coffee in front of me and leaned in for another morning kiss.
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask him about the dream he’d been having, but I thought twice. What if he didn’t remember it at all? What if he remembered it and didn’t want to tell me? What if he was too embarrassed to talk about it? After all, I could be totally wrong about what he was dreaming of, and if I was, I wondered if it would lead to another fight. So, instead of asking, I shrugged it off instead and smiled when he pulled down a box of pancake mix and held it in his hand, turning to look at me. “You’ve got batter duty,” he said, smiling.
I nodded, got up from the chair I was sitting on, and went to work while he cooked the bacon.
Jackson
We hiked along the entire beach, now running to the car to warm up. Afterward, we drove to the grocery store to pick up food for dinner. I had just pulled my truck into my driveway and cut the engine when I looked over at Bailey, who flashed me a sexy smile.
“Are you hungry?” I asked.
“Am I hungry? Yes! I can’t wait to bite into those steaks we picked up,” she said, hopping out of the truck and grabbing the bag of food we’d picked up after we left the beach.
“Well, then let’s get inside, and I will get the barbecue fired up.”
Hand in hand, we ran up the walkway to the front door and into the house. “I’ll get our sweatshirts into the wash while you do that,” she said, running back out the front door.
I couldn’t help but watch as she ran down the driveway back to the truck to grab our wet gear. I held the door open for her and she smiled, stopping to place a kiss on my lips before running off toward the laundry area. I shut and locked the door and headed into the kitchen to first season the steaks and then turn the barbecue on.
After we ate, we both showered together and then we curled up on the couch and put a movie on. She curled up to my side, resting her head on my chest, and pulled the blanket down off the back of the couch, covering us up. As the movie played, I could barely stop the thoughts running through my mind. Having her here, having her back, felt like we were becoming serious again. Since the wedding, we had spent almost all our free time together, and even though we had been apart for five years, it felt as if we had never been apart at all.
I ran my fingers through her soft hair as the credits rolled. “So, are you ever going to tell me what you have been up to for the last five years?” I questioned.
She paused and swallowed hard. “You don’t want to know that, Jackson,” she pushed herself up into a sitting position and rubbed her eyes.
“Sure, I do. I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to know.”
She looked at me. I could tell she was trying to read me, to see if I was indeed serious or if I was just trying to get information out of her. Then she sunk back onto the couch and met my eyes.
“Well, you know I moved away from here. I had a job and started dating a guy I worked with. His name was Jim.”
“Jim, huh?” I felt a wave of jealousy run through me at the thought of another man putting his hands on her.
“I told you, Jackson, you don’t want to know.”
“Well, while I sit here and pretend, I am not jealous, how about you tell me what happened to him?”
Bailey looked at me, rolled her eyes and let out this cute, annoyed laugh. “Well, if you must know, he dumped me on our anniversary.”
I looked over at her and couldn’t help the small smile that crept onto my lips.
“What’s so funny about that?” she asked, defensive.
I chuckled to myself. “Well, on one hand, I think the guy is an ass for letting you go, but on the other, it was the best decision he ever made.”
“What?” she said, her voice full of annoyance.
She was too cute when she got angry.
“Sorry, I can’t help myself. See, if you were with him now, you wouldn’t be here with me.”
“Oh.” Bailey giggled.
“What really happened?”
“Seriously, I think we just fell out of love, or perhaps he never loved me to begin with. Either way, it’s over. He’s moved on, and here I sit.”
