Page 118 of Hate To Be Mine

She kissed me, cutting off my rambling. When she pulled back, she was smiling.

“How about we start with a drawer?” she said.

“A drawer.”

“And some closet space. And maybe a shelf in the bathroom for my stuff.”

“That’s it? That’s all I get?”

“For now.” She traced my jaw with her fingertips. “Let’s take this one step at a time, okay? I just blew up my entire life. Let me ease into the new one.”

I wanted to argue and plead my case. But she was right. We had time. Real love didn’t need to rush.

“Okay,” I said. “A drawer. Some closet space. A bathroom shelf.”

“Thank you.” She kissed me again, softer this time. “I love you, you know.”

“I love you too.” I pulled her closer and knew I was holding my future.

EPILOGUE

BERNADETTE

The movers had just left, and my entire life sat in cardboard boxes stacked in Sebastian’s spare bedroom. Well, our spare bedroom now, I supposed.

“This is surreal,” I said, surveying the boxes labeled in my neat handwriting.

Sebastian wrapped his arms around me from behind, resting his chin on my shoulder. “What’s surreal? That you’re finally moving in, or that it took you three months to agree to it?”

“Both.” I leaned back against him, still marveling at how natural this felt. How right. “I can’t believe I’m actually doing this.”

“Believe it, beautiful. You’re stuck with me now.” He kissed my neck, and I felt the smile against my skin. “Though I have to say, I’m a little offended you didn’t bring more furniture. Your IKEA bookshelf has character.”

“That IKEA bookshelf is held together with duct tape and prayers.”

“Still. It got you through college. It deserves respect.”

I turned in his arms to face him. “Your furniture is from actual designers whose names I can’t pronounce. My furniture came out of a box.”

He grinned that devastating smile that still made my stomach flip even after months of seeing it every day. “Well, we can buy new stuff together. Stuff that’s ours.”

“Buying furniture like an actual grownup,” I said.

“You didn’t feel like a grownup before? Should I remind you of the very grownup things we did last night on that very couch?”

I slapped at him. “Stop it. I mean living with a man.”

“A man? That’s all I am, a man?”

I rolled my eyes. Sebastian rarely took anything serious. He was definitely the Yin to my Yang.

He kissed me and I knew exactly what that tongue action signaled. I was just starting to think we could postpone unpacking when he pulled away. “As much as I’d love to christen the spare bedroom, we have a baby shower in an hour.”

“Right. Elizabeth’s shower.” I glanced at the boxes. “Should we unpack some of these first?”

“Nope. Future us can deal with it. Present us needs to go celebrate my impending uncle-hood.” He was already pulling me toward the bedroom. “Come on. You need to change, and I need to make sure you don’t wear something sensible.”

“What’s wrong with sensible?”