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“I’ll be right there. I’m going to grab napkins.”
“Okay,” he says over his shoulder.
“Hey, can I borrow your pen, please?” I ask the dumpling guy, and he hands it over. I scribble on the receipt before giving it back and joining Troy.
I sit down, and he hands over one of the trays. “You will love these.” He grins, picking one up and taking a bite.
I take a breath. I’m sure, but I’m still nervous as fuck. “Yeah, I think I’ll change my life with this purchase.”
He swallows his bite. “They are good, but that’s a lot of power to give to food, baby. You haven’t even tried them yet.” He laughs.
“I don’t have to. I already know.”
He looks at me confused, and I hold out the receipt. He sets down his food and takes it from me.
He reads the words I wrote up the length of the paper.
Move to Oregon with me?
He stares at it like he has to read it a few times to comprehend. Then his blue eyes meet mine. I bite into my lip, waiting for whatever he will say.
“Lexy…”
“Please don’t make me give you some long, sappy speech.” I laugh.
“Are you sure? I don’t want you to feel like you’re following me for my dream or what I want.”
I nod. “This is what I want, T—you and Oregon. My mom made it seem like she never had a choice when she would abandon her life, and me, for a guy. Maybe she thought it was the only way to be loved. But you make me feel like this relationship is as much about me as it is about you and like I do get a say because you'll love me no matter what I choose.”
The receipt paper crinkles between his hand and the side of my head as he pulls me to him and crushes his mouth to mine. He breaks our connection just enough to say, “You just want easy access to my motorcycle, don’t you?” with a smirk.
“You think you know me, don’t you?” I remember the first time I said those words to him, annoyed by every time he could read me, and I didn’t understand how. Now, I know why.
“I’m just good at my job.” He winks then looks behind him through the windows at the bar glowing under soft orange lights. “Babe, I’m about to own this…” He’s so excited, and I’m confident this is the right choice.
“Oh yeah, about that.” I feign hesitation.
“What about it…?” Worry flashes across his face.
“I’d like to interview for a job, as long as fucking the boss is allowed.”
He responds by burying his hand in my hair, using his grip to tug my mouth to his. I feel him smile into it, and he shakes his head slightly before pulling out of our kiss. “God, I love you.”
I smile back. “I would love it if I could actually try these dumplings now.”
“Deal. Then we are going back inside to celebrate.”
“Or we could gohomeand celebrate.” I grin right before taking a giant bite of my dumpling.
EPILOGUE
Oneyearlater
TROY
“Thanks for letting me help. I’m so excited!” Maci smiles brightly at me as she rips off a piece of tape for me to stick the receipt covered in my handwriting to the front door.
“Thankyou.” I respond, but I’m not talking about her help with this.
