Page 89 of Calling a Cease-Fire

Wolf whistles rang out around us, and I pulled back with a smirk. The matching grin on her face didn’t surprise me. Not anymore. There’d been a time in our relationship when I expected her distaste of public displays of affection to manifest in a scowl, or her pushing me away. But at this point, I knew she wouldn’t shy away from it. In fact, I was pretty sure she loved showing everyone that I was hers.

“So…what lucky person are we gonna get to take your apartment when you move in with me?”

“Who says I’m moving in with you?” The slight twitch of her lips as she fought a smile confirmed my words.

“You’ve literally been at my place for the last two weeks.” I pointed out.

She shrugged nonchalantly. “Your master shower is huge.”

“Don’t be sassy.” I pinched her side, eliciting a stifled giggle from her.

“I think we can convince Savannah to take it.” There was a glint of mischief in her eyes as she spoke.

I cringed. “Given who she’s been spending a lot of time with, I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

She tilted her head. “You think Miles will have an issue with it?”

I shrugged, thinking about the last ten years. “I’m not sure. They’ve stayed really close over the years. I actually always thought the two of them would end up together.”

“Interesting.”

“That’s a great idea,” Lyla said, pulling our attention. “What do you think, Mia?”

“Um, sorry…what idea?” Mia responded cautiously.

“I suggested maybe all of us rent a cabin up north for a week this winter,” Izzy said with a smile, excitement twinkling in her eyes. “It would be so much fun.”

One perfect eyebrow arched on Mia’s forehead, and I bit back the laugh that bubbled up. But just as quickly, her expression softened, and she smiled.

“Yeah, maybe.” She huffed out a chuckle. “Although good luck trying to align everyone’s schedules.”

Izzy shrugged. “If we start planning it now, everyone should be able to request the time off.”

“As long as the chief can find volunteers to cover all of us at one time,” Adam added.

“We could make it a yearly thing.” Violet leaned back against Seth as he wrapped his arms around her. “I’m going to need a lot of vacations after dealing with that arsonist case for over a year. So glad that’s behind us.”

“I’ll drink to that.” Jay raised his beer, holding his almost three-month-old baby boy in the crook of his other arm. We raised our glasses, and a moment later, Jay made his way into the yard where Sarah, Owen, Cece, and all the kids were blowing bubbles.

We all felt the weight lifted from our shoulders now that the Taylor kid was caught and awaiting trial. The guys still liked to give me a hard time over having to wrestle a crazed arsonist to the ground just to save my ass. I was just happy they did, and that we all came out okay on the other side.

I leaned closer to Mia until my lips ghosted her ear. “So, what do you really think of Izzy’s idea?”

Her lips twitched. “It could be fun.”

“Yeah?”

She turned her face toward me with a softer expression and ran her fingers through my hair. “As long as I’m with you, I’ll be happy.”

“I think my sappiness is rubbing off on you,” I said with a playful grin.

“Are you complaining?”

I chuckled with a shake of my head. “Nope. Not at all.”

“Good answer.”

I inched my hand a little further up her leg, rubbing my thumb back and forth over the smooth skin of the inside of her thigh. I couldn’t stop my smile as she shifted on my lap and a slight flush came over her complexion. Her breathing sped up as I continued teasing her, until she finally jumped off my lap.