Page 63 of The Other Room

I climbed up his body and peppered his lips with kisses. His arms tightened around my waist as he returned them.

“Now don’t go getting me all riled up again. I only had the one condom stuck in my wallet.”

Furrowing my brow as I pouted, I broke off our kisses. “Just the one?”

“Well, I didn’t exactly expect this to happen when I planned on confessing my feelings to you, now did I?”

“You... you planned on telling me tonight?”

“Yep. Thanks to your sister’s encouragement.”

“I knew it!” I slapped his chest. “I knew she was up to no good with you tonight!”

Matt caught my hand in his and squeezed it tight. “Well, I would say she was dead on with her superpower, and I for one am grateful she was up to no good tonight. If she hadn’t meddled, I never would have had the guts to tell you how I felt. And then we’d have spent another few decades pretending we didn’t have feelings for each other. So, I for one, say thank you, Jenna.”

Even though I was pissed as hell she’d gone and put her nose where it didn’t belong, I’d also never been more grateful in my life. “Thank you, Jenna.” I chuckled.

“And don’t you dare freak out and bolt on me, Jo. I know you. And I’m not letting you talk yourself out of this. Understood?”

“Is that why you planned on telling me in a boat? So I couldn’t run?”

He waggled his eyebrows. “Always thinking. Now no running. Got it?”

With a deep sigh, I nodded. He was right. This would be the time when I would look for the escape hatch and bail before I had a chance to get hurt. Push him away before he could leave me. But if a man existed worthy of forcing myself to ride out my issues, then this was the one.

This was Matt. My best friend and the man I’d loved since I was a little girl. And now I held him in my arms... and I had no intention of letting go.

“So only the one condom, huh?” I bit my lip.

“Yep. No corkscrew. No glasses. One condom. I’m crushing it over here.”

“Do you know where there are more condoms?” I peeked up at him.

“Where?”

“Our cabin.” Waggling my eyebrows, I gestured toward the shore.

Matt nearly dumped me on the floor of the boat. “Get dressed. I’ll paddle.”

Laughing, I yanked on my sweatshirt while he pulled up his pants. I snuggled under the blanket as he grabbed the oars and paddled toward shore as fast as if he was in an Olympic rowing tryout.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

MATT

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If it didn’t mean moving and waking her up, I’d have pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Waking up with Jo wrapped up in my arms was a dream I’d had before. Many times in fact. But in the dream version of this scenario, I couldn’t feel the warmth of her skin, hear her shallow breaths, or smell the vanilla hues of her shampoo.

I glanced down toward the end of the bed and saw Petunia’s eye boring into me.

That answered that question.

Nope. Not a dream. A terrifying feline interloper didn’t exist inside my Jo dreams. While I stared at Petunia, a thought did cross my mind. At least she’s near me without growling, hissing, or swatting at me. In fact, Petunia was lying on my legs.

Shit. Was this a dream?

I blinked hard and pressed my body tight against Jo’s. She shifted, wiggling in my arms before settling back against me.