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“So, one more year?” Maddox asks as he wipes his mouth, tossing his napkin into Forrest's empty pizza box.
“Yes.”
“I’m ready to be done,” Monroe announces.
“You and me both.”
“You’re moving back home, right?” Lachlan asks. “Both of you are coming back to Ashby, right?”
I nod. “That was the plan. I’ve already got some feelers out for jobs. You do too, right?” I ask Monroe.
“Yeah, that would be the ideal situation. We’re only a twenty-minute drive to Nashville. We can still live here and make that commute easy enough.”
“That’s what I was thinking too. Of course, closer to home is always good.”
“Unless we meet men to sweep us off our feet, and we’ll end up moving wherever they’re going.” She winks at me, and I have to fight from rolling my eyes. She’s trying to get a rise out of… well, all of them would be my guess.
“Let’s not start talking crazy,” Forrest tells her.
“You know it’s a possibility. She’s going to get married and maybe even move away one day. There’s not much… variety in this small town.”
“You’re both too young to be thinking about marriage.” Forrest scowls.
“We’re two adult women who are not too young to talk about anything.” There’s an undercurrent of innuendo in her tone.
“You can’t even legally drink,” Forrest fires back at her.
“No, but we can serve our country, we can vote, we can live on our own, have sex and babies, and a host of other things. In the eyes of the law, we are adults.”
I cringe and sink onto the stool. This is not how I envisioned this conversation going. I get what she’s trying to do. She’s trying to make a point that the difference in years between us shouldn’t matter to Roman, but I’m worried it will have the opposite effect.
I chance a look to my right, where he stands to find his eyes on me. I hold his stare until it becomes too much, too intense, and I have to look away. I can’t help but wonder what he would do if I kissed him. Right here. Right now. In front of everyone around us. Would he kiss me back? I’ve asked myself that question countless times over the years, but the yearning to feel his lips on mine has never been this strong.
“No. Nope. Not happening.” Forrest steps back and grabs another beer from the refrigerator. “We are not talking about either of you getting married and having babies. Maybe in, like, ten or fifteen years from now.” He twists off the cap of his beer and takes a long pull.
“You’re delusional if you think either of us will wait ten to fifteen years. We don’t want to be single for the rest of our lives. We want to find someone to love,” Monroe says, and I can practically see the hearts in her eyes as she glances at me, then at Roman.
Her declaration isn’t for herself. Sure, she wants to be married and have kids one day, but she knows that for me if I had a choice, that man, the one to change my last name and give me babies, would be Roman. Not this year or even next, but as my best friend, she knows what’s in my heart.
I give her a soft smile before sliding off my stool and starting to clean up.
ChapterFive
Roman
The chill of the night air is masked by the roaring fire. I pretend to be enthralled by the flames, but I’m not. It’s the only way I can keep my eyes off her. Emerson is sitting diagonally from me in a lawn chair. Her bare legs are folded beneath her, and the oversized Everlasting Ink sweatshirt she wears is stretched over them to help protect her from the cold.
“We should play truth or dare,” Monroe suggests.
“Bet,” Legend says, leaning forward in his chair.
“I’m in,” Maddox agrees.
“You know I love me a good game of truth or dare,” Lachlan says, rubbing his hands together with glee.
“Are we teenagers?” Forrest asks.
“We are grown adults who can do whatever the hell we want,” Monroe sasses him.
