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Liv says, “Yep, so do you know what kind of party you might like?”
“Princess!” she nearly shrieks with glee.
But of course.
We leave Quiet Springs and get to planning the birthday party. We aren’t quite ready to buy decorations and whatnot since we need to see how many of Rae’s classmates can come, and that disappoints her quite a bit—she wants to buy everything now because she’s excited. But we distract her with talk of presents while we eat lunch at my apartment. She literally writes out a list of things she’d like to get, leaving us with lots of options. Then we distract her fromthatby going to their place, moving the coffee table into a corner of the living room, and setting their little Christmas tree up on it.
She falls asleep shortly after we’re back in front of my TV. I move her to my bed so Liv and I can lie on the couch and talk.
I summarize what I said to Lolly and mention her apology. That part makes Liv tear up. Me, too, honestly, all over again. I tell her how grateful I am that she encouraged me to say the stuff, because I can truly see a difference in how I feel. She’s really, really pleased to hear it.
We fall into silence.
With my head on her chest, I can hear it when her heartbeat begins to go from steady to quick.
I tune in to how she’s breathing a little differently, too, and I ask, “You okay?”
Nodding, she clears her throat quietly. “Yeah.” She hugs me to her side. “I was, uh…thinking about something Rae said while we were giving you and Lolly your space.”
I rub my thumb over the soft sleeve of her sweater. “Oh?”
She nods again, hesitates before she says, “She doesn’t care that you and I have only been dating a week and one day. She doesn’t want to be away from you anymore.”
Instantly understanding what she’s talking about, I shift so I can lift my head and look at her.
Her bottom lip is between her teeth, her cheeks are pink, and her eyes are sunny.
I grin at her, but I’m quite serious when I ask, “Doyouwant to be away from me?”
She shakes her head. “No.”
Although that does something crazy to my pulse, I promise her, “There’s no rush, Liv. I love you both regardless of where any of us live.”
“Us, too.”
One of her hands goes around the back of my neck and tugs me forward, so I bend in close enough to feel her breath on my lips.
“But she was going on and on about you, and she said,‘Annie, when I go to bed and Landon is at our house, I know I’m going to be extra safe.’And I agreed with her. And then she said,‘Andwhen I wake up in the mornings and Landon is already with us, I am happy, happy, happy.’”
Deeply thrilled, I brush my mouth against hers in a touch, not a kiss, and whisper, “Did you agree with her on that, too, Annie?”
“Yeah, I did,” she whispers back.
I sigh my way into an unhurried kiss. Her hand tries to pull me closer, turns the kiss a little harder, and I want like hell to deepen it because I haven’t tasted her since last night.
Instead, I draw back enough to ask my next question: “So…your place or mine?”
She chortles. “Well, she likes your carpet, but I don’t know. I didn’t want to talk to her about it and get her hopes up before I could settle it with you.”
I finish my own chuckling about the carpet and then say, “Consider it settled.”
Now she’s the one grinning. Cheerfulness isradiatingoff of her.
After a second, she murmurs, “How quietly can we make out, you think?”
I touch my tongue to her bottom lip and feel her hold a gasp in her chest. “Let’s find out. Good practice for the future.”
She nods, and she must want a taste of me as badly as I want one of her, because our next kiss doesn’t start out closed even for a second. We’re in each other’s mouth right off the bat.
