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“And what did you mean, then?” I asked, thinking I already knew the answer, but wanting to hear it from her lips.
“I mean,” she said, “that you were a surprise. Everything about you. You surprised me with your grouchy introduction, then you surprised me with your helpfulness and willingness to brave that storm to keep us safe. You surprised me with how kind you really are, and you surprised me when I realized I was really falling for you.”
“You are?” I said, lighting up when she said it.
“Yeah,” she said. “I really am.” She went up on her tiptoes to kiss me again, and I lifted her into the air. She threw her arms around my neck and shrieked in delight.
“Are you two coming?” Dean shouted from outside.
“Yeah,” I said. “Just a minute!” I turned back to Jenna, who was still in my arms. “I guess this would be a good moment to tell you that I have thoroughly and completely fallen for you, too.”
She beamed at me and kissed me again. I set her down and smiled back at her.
“So what do you want to do about that?” I asked, hoping we’d have enough time before Dean came back inside to force us outside with them.
“I…” She shook her head, still grinning. “I don’t know,” she said. “I’d really like to see where this goes, but… I know it won’t be easy.”
“Definitely not,” I said. “I work in New York, and you go to school here in Georgia.”
“But,” she said, “Dean and Lexi made it work long distance, and look at them now. Besides, I’ve been thinking about applying to Columbia for a nurse practitioner program after I graduate. Would… would you like that? If I moved to New York?”
I paused. My immediate answer was “yes,” but I thought about how quickly Hannah and I had rushed into things. Granted, we never had half of the connection that Jenna and I did, but the fact still remained that we had been doomed from the start. I was always working, and she needed so much more than I could offer in terms of time.
“I think…” I said, really giving myself time to consider. “I’d like to see how the rest of this week goes.” She looked a bit crestfallen, but I wasn’t done. “Because if it’s anything like the last few days, I can’t imagine anything I’d want more.”
She broke into a huge smile.
“Yeah,” she said. “Me too.”
After another kiss, I grabbed her hand and found the champagne glasses as requested, as well as the “big ass knife.” I led her outside to where Dean and Lexi were currently making out, with the bottle chilling neck-down in the snow.
“Ahem,” I said as we approached, and they both looked up.
“Took you long enough,” Dean said, his eyes going to our joined hands.
“Dean,” Lexi said in a softly scolding voice, elbowing him in the ribs.
“Sorry,” he said, smiling down at her and kissing the top of her head. “Anyway, you found the knife?” I held it up and he clapped his hands together. “Perfect. I saw a video on how to do this, and I’ve always wanted to.”
“How to do what?” Jenna asked warily, and the sentiment seemed to be echoed in Lexi and myself as well.
“I’ll show you.”
He grabbed the bottle out of the snow, holding it up.
“They said you need the neck really chilled,” he said. “Seems pretty good to me.” He walked over toward the lake, standing close to the edge. “I figure, there are enough things hanging out at the bottom of this lake, what’s a couple more?”
“Dean…” Jenna said. “What are you—”
“Knife, please,” he said, holding out his hand to me.
I eyed him with suspicion, but handed over the knife anyway.
“Whatever you’re about to do,” I told him, “remember that you just got engaged. Don’t go doing anything that’s going to get you killed.”
“Why do you all seem so worried?” he demanded. “This is fun! Tis the damn season, and I plan to make the most of it.”
He took the knife from me and held the bottle of bubbly out in front of him, facing the lake. The cork was pointed at a forty-five-degree angle toward the water, and he put the flat of the knife against the side of the bottle.
