Page 70 of Bound Hearts

Quickly, I kiss her to cement our bond, because it's strong. “That’s good. Because I love you.”

“And I love you.” She slowly moves to straddle me, letting her hands drop to my shoulders, and our eyes confirm that our relationship has progressed. She begins to sputter a laugh. “Have you felt this way for a while?”

“Yeah. Have you?”

“Yeah. I kind of assumed you knew and it was obvious. Wasn’t it?”

Grinning, I realize it all felt natural. “Yes.”

“And it’s been obvious for me.” She playfully pushes my arm, and her smile is wide as can be. “Foster, are we seriously the people who forgot to say I love you and only did it after we got married?”

“Fuck.” I think about it for a good second, then chuckle. “We are those people.”

We both laugh, and she buries her nose into the crook of my neck. “Going in order doesn’t seem to be us.”

I comb back her hair, and she pulls back to meet my eyes. “Sutton, nothing about us makes sense.”

She licks her lips, her cheekbones still high from our moment of hysterics. I feel her middle begin to wiggle against my waist. “I guess we need to honor this momentous occasion. I want to show you how much I love you.”

I feel my erection form. She’s been insatiable lately. No complaints from me. But right now, this isn’t sex. It’s more, a lot more.

When our lips meet, I’m certain that this is how we were always supposed to be. The casual beginning when we met was purely a warm-up for what was to come.

Sometimes when things feel this perfect, you have to wonder what could shake you from your axis. But I’m no longer alone, and maybe deep down, I’m scared for what could happen to any of us.

Nothing is ever too flawless, is it?

19

FOSTER

Scrolling through my phone, I've been puzzled for the last five minutes. Do babies really need all this stuff? I keep going over the list Elodie sent Sutton as we try to figure out what we need for the baby. Sutton and I have been weaving our way in and out of stores, looking at items.

“Is this not kind of addictive?” She glances over her shoulder with a bright smile, her summer dress clinging to every curve. A light sweater is tied over her shoulders, as some places have the AC cranked up high.

We walk through the entrance of a toy store, and I follow her lead.

“I mean, maybe.” I’m carrying a few bags with tissue paper sticking out, as we both fell down the clothes hole at a little boutique a few blocks back.

I’m lucky that she's ordered furniture and other things for the baby’s room. Hiring someone to help her with that has been one of my greatest investments. I have too much business travel, and Sutton needs help, Sutton can go wild with what she wants, and I won’t even need to build any furniture. The only thing to come out of that arrangement is that Sutton doesn’t want me to look inside the room when they set it up. Something about it being a surprise.

Alas, the baby still needs an entire list of smaller items, and here we are spending our evening shopping since we finally have time for it.

Savannah and Julian had their wedding of the century, and that was the most tiring yet fun wedding weekend I’ve been to in a long time. The guest list was long, every detail immaculate. Lola was a cute little flower girl. It was a joke amongst our group that Sutton and I were always supposed to go down the aisle together as members of the wedding party; it’s just that we beat them all to the marriage part. There was no longer a need for her to try to catch the bouquet, which made Olivia from HR happy, as she won the flower battle. It took a solid week to recover from the exhaustion, and I’m surprised Sutton held up so well.

But with that out of the way, Elodie and Hayes are having a small wedding in early October, and now everyone's focus is on us. We can get things done.

No signs needed, we follow the path to the baby section, and I begin to roam around with Sutton.

I spot a box that shows a baby lying on a blanket, kicking their feet to reach things hanging above them. “This seems like something he would need. It has a mirror, a rattle, a pulley thing, and it makes noise, sings songs,” I read off the box. “Let’s get this one.”

Sutton rolls her eyes and gives me a knowing look. “Someone here is having a lot of fun.”

“These things are important for him,” I say, defending myself.

“And that blue polo shirt?” She nods toward the bag in my hand.

“For formal occasions.”