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“Oh.” His body sags with relief and he gives me a boyish smile. “My mistake.”
“Now that you mention it, though …” I start, tossing the envelope on the kitchen counter. I saunter over to him and sink into his lap, straddling him. His hands fall to my thighs. “The summer is dangerously close to over. So, what do you say, Kincaid? You wanna be stuck with me forever? Sure you don’t want to take one of those pretty cheerleaders for a ride?”
He shakes his head, his brown eyes darkening. “You. I only want you.” He licks his lips. “How about you? You want to explore the party college life? A new guy every weekend?”
“Eh, I did that last year.” I wave a hand dismissively. He gives me a look of horror. “The parties, not the guys.”
He chuckles and leans his forehead against mine so our noses touch. “So, we’re going to make this work?”
“Yep.” I pop the “p” driving home my point. Growing serious, I add, “I don’t want anyone else, and this may not be how I imagined us getting together, but I don’t regret it. It’s part of our story and that’s a beautiful thing.”
He cracks a grin and leans back. “Look at you being all poetic.”
I shrug and wrinkle my nose. “It happens every once in a blue moon.”
Cade’s footsteps sound into the room—I know it’s him, because he walks like an ogre—and he makes a gagging sound. “Do you guys have to be so lovey-dovey all the time? You’re making me sick with all this sweetness.”
I stick my tongue out at him. “It’s about time you got a taste of your own medicine. Deal with it.”
He shudders and opens the refrigerator, scanning the items inside. He grabs the orange juice and pulls it out, taking a swig straight from the bottle.
I give Xander a horrified look. “Remind me to never ever drink the orange juice under any circumstances.”
Cade closes the bottle and wipes the back of his hand over his mouth. “You might want to avoid the milk too.” He winks before heading from the room.
“Ew,” I groan, and reach for the only thing on the table that’s acceptable for throwing; I toss the orange at him and it hits him square in the back.
He doesn’t even flinch.
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t do that,” he calls back.
I shake my head, laughing under my breath. “Maybe our own place wouldn’t be so bad.”
Xander smiles. “All you have to do is say the word.”
“Are you always going to put the ball in my court?” I ask him.
“Well, yeah, you’re the bossy one in the relationship.”
I bust out laughing. “Is that so?” He nods, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “Eh, I guess you’re right,” I say after a moment.
He chuckles. “I like that you know what you want. It makes things easier for me. There are no guessing games with you.”
I slide off his lap and pick up the envelope. “I better give this to her and make sure it gets signed and sent back. The sooner this divorce is final, the better off we’ll all be.”
My dad has been driving by more and more frequently, and he hasn’t even gotten the divorce papers yet. He’ll probably go ape-shit when that happens.
I head upstairs with the envelope, surprised by how heavy and thick it is. Apparently, you need a lot of big fancy words to end a marriage. I always imagined it would simply read:
THE END.
I knock on her bedroom door and she calls out for me to come in.
I hold up the envelope. “They’re here.” I watch surprise, pain, and finally happiness flicker in her eyes. “All you have to do is sign your name and then you’ll be free.”
“Free,” she repeats, padding across the room and taking the envelope from me. “I’d resigned myself to being stuck in my own personal hell for the rest of my life, it’s strange to realize I’m coming out of the hole on the other side.”
“Believe it.” I give her an encouraging smile. “Now, sign these papers and end it.” She opens the package and pulls out the papers. I grab a pen off the desk and hand it to her. “I feel like I should take a picture,” I joke. “This feels like a very important moment.”
