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"Did he kiss you? Please tell me he kissed you otherwise Iwilldie."
I chuckle quietly at Trevor's dramatics.
"Don't you have a reading hour to get to?"
"Eh. Mrs. Taylor brought in cupcakes. Figure that buys me five minutes. Now…" He strokes his chin. "The fact you're deflecting worries me and makes me think the date didn't go so well. But on the other hand, your skin is positively radiant. So, you either had atremendousdate, or I'm going to need the name of the therapist who gave you that kick-ass facial at the Thickehead Day Spa. Which is it, kiddo?"
I grin, not saying a word. I got a kick-ass facial all right, just not at a day spa.
My expression must give me away because Trevor gets up nice and close and whispers, "It's option A. Great date, fabulous sex?"
"No," I whisper back, leaning in. "Great date,out of this worldsex."
Trevor does an excited golf clap in front of his chest. "Yayyyy. I'm so happy for you."
My grin blooms into a full-on smile. "Yeah, I'm pretty happy for me, too."
And it's not because of the sex. Well, it's notentirelybecause of the sex.
It's finding someone who sees me—sees all of me—and likes me anyway. My nerdiness, my neurosis, my freaking birdwatching. Do you have any idea how many times I've been teased about that in my life?
And the thing with Branum is that he doesn't just put up with it. He isn't being polite or putting on an act. I genuinely believed him when he said he would have happily sat on the ledge beside me in silence for as long as I needed. I can't describe how good that felt and how much that simple gesture meant to me.
That's why him fucking me and fucking me bare was a no-brainer. I don't know what the future holds, but I'd never been more certain of anything than I was in that moment that I wanted to feel him inside me with nothing between us.
"And to think, if Branum hadn't lost the bet, none of this might've happened."
Trevor's words hurtle into my chest, slamming me back to reality.
"Look, I do need to get going. I can see the kids starting to get restless. If you can keep going with these returns that'd be great, and when I get back, I'll grab a few wedding magazines, and we can start making plans."
He's about to skip off when I grab him by the hem of his cardigan.
"What. Did. You. Say?"
He spins around. "Relax. I was just kidding about the magazines—"
"No. Before that." I glare at him. "What. Bet?"
"Oh. Shit." His face falls. "Sorry. I misspoke."
"Well, why don't youun-misspeak and tell me what you were referring to?"
"Can I tell you after reading hour? The kids are starting to—"
"The kids will be fine for sixty seconds, which is exactly how long it'll take for you to tell me the freaking truth."
"Fine. But I don't want you getting upset, okay? This is one of those things that sounds worse than it actually is."
"I'll be the judge of that."
"Okay, so remember when I told you about how Branum asked about you on your day off?"
"I do."
"Well, it was a slow day, and I was bored without you, so when Branum came over to the counter, I jokingly said that I knew what question he wanted to ask before he said a word. I then—very stupidly and without thinking it through or meaning anything bad by it—bet him that if I guessed his question correctly, he would ask you out on a date."
I take a step away from Trevor. "So, the only reason Branum asked me out is because you…bet on it?"
