Ask what you need and tell you the truth. Even if it’s scary
Stay. No more running
I pull her onto my lap. “You’ve got me. All of me.”
She looks up at me. “And you’ve got all of me.”
Sticky notes flutter in the breeze around us, pink promises against the dark night that surrounds us. I breathe her in as we watch the lake ripple in the quiet, soaking up every bit of our first date.
With her, I feel everything I always wanted to.
Safe. Wanted. Chosen. Like myself.
And this time, together, we will stay.
Shay tapes the last sticky note to my dashboard as I park in her driveway.
The drive was mostly silent, but with my fingers laced with hers, there was no need for anything to be said. This is more than a do-over. It’s a new start for two people who are ready to love each other correctly.
I point at the three shadowy figures watching us through the window. “Looks like you’ll be up late for your post-date recap.”
Shay yawns but doesn’t look disappointed. “With Jo leaving for med school tomorrow, we’ll probably be up all night. I’ve known she would eventually have to leave, but I can’t believe it’s already time for her to go.”
“It’s going to be really weird without her,” I say, opening my door. “But it sucks that I don’t get to stay the night with you. I’ve gotten used to sleeping beside you again.”
A soft, drowsy laugh slips out of her as I swing the passenger door open. “In your dreams. No getting lucky on the first date, Cade.”
My brows lift, ready to remind her that I ate her pussy until she came on my tongue a few days ago, but she kisses me to shut me up. After believing for so long that I’d never have this again, I can’t stop touching her and kissing her and holding her close. I don’t want her to slip through my fingers again, and I’ll do everything I can to keep that from happening.
A shriek from her cell phone breaches our little bubble, but I just smile. My woman is a brilliant agent who receives calls at all times.
Our first date is no exception.
“I need to take this,” she says. “Go on in. I’ll be there in a second.”
I press a quick kiss to her temple before heading up the driveway, leaving the sound of her professional voice behind me. The door swings open before I can raise my fist to knock.
“Look, guys! He’s blushing!” Adri reaches up and pinches my cheek. If it wasn’t red before, it is now.
Mallory swats her hand away. “Did she take any work calls?”
“No.” I give her a quick hug. “But Holly texted her a million times.”
“That’s par for the course,” Jo adds. “She loves Shay.”
The girls try to pull me inside, but I’m too busy following Shay with my eyes as she paces back and forth with her phone pressed to her ear. Her voice is still bright, but even in the dark, I spot the slight slump to her shoulders. The Quartet must see it too, because they rush onto the porch beside me.
After she hangs up, I run down the steps to Shay. Now that I’m up close, the hairs on the back of my neck rise.
“What’s wrong?” I ask. “Are you okay?”
Shay’s eyes glisten as she takes a deep breath.
“I didn’t get Garrett Blane.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Post-date recaps are supposedto be filled with tequila, laughs, overly-personal stories, and tea—not the drinking kind.
