Afterwards, we slide right back into our spoon position, spent, his arms snug around me, both catching our breaths. I want to overthink how much we doit, but I squash the train. I’m too busy catching my breath and marveling at how fucking delicious it all feels.Surely there is no such thing as too much sex. Right?I make a mental note to ask Lilly her opinion next time we talk. For a couple of minutes neither of us speaks or moves, except to regulate our breathing. I’m drawing lazy circles on his forearm with my fingernail when my phone dings with Via’s ringtone.
“Shit.” I snag my phone off the charger. “Hey, Via. I’ll call you right back. Okay, two minutes.” I feel his kiss on my shoulder before he pulls his arms back from my midsection as I disconnect the call and set the phone down on the edge of the nightstand.
“Your sister, the cockblocker.” His deep voice rumbles against my back before his lips return to my skin.
“Her timing is improving. Don’t you think?”
“If we’re grading on a curve, sure. But I wasn’t quite ready to let you go.” To prove his point, he nuzzles his cheek across my shoulder. His spiky facial hair raises goosebumps on my arms.
Sitting up, I turn and brush a lock of hair off his forehead and get lost in his penetrating blue eyes. “Hi, boyfriend.”
“Hi, lover.” His eyes are half-mast and a little sleepy, his voice deeper with the morning hour.
My stomach flips on the new endearment. God, I love this man. And I want to kiss him so badly. “I’m brushing my teeth, then coming back to kiss you.”
“Before or after you call Via?”
“Via can wait.”
“In that case, I’ll brush mine too.” He swats my ass as I roll off the bed and stretch on my way to the bathroom.
***
Walking down the stairs ten minutes later, I pull the phone away from my ear as Via squeals.
“He proposed,” she screeches.
“Wait. What? You’re already engaged. I was there. We had a party.”
“No. I know. But he wanted to give me—I’m getting ahead of myself.”
I snicker. “Okay. Start from the beginning. Tell me everything.”
“He took me to Half Moon Bay. Just a quick overnighter. But after dinner, we went for a walk on Maverick Beach. It was low tide, so we made it all the way to the end where the big rock wall is. He pointed to the sunset, and when I turned to look, he said, ‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’ And when I turned back to answer him, he was kneeling in the sand with a ring.Thering. His grandma’s ring. He’d been waiting for her to get back from her trip to get it.”
“Oh my God. Did you cry?”
“Duh. Thank God for waterproof mascara.” We both giggle. Via sobers and adds, “We want to get married right away. I mean, we already live together. And . . . we wanna do it at Blue Lake. Like at Brew. On the beach. Would you . . . could we . . . Would it be impossible to pull off?”
“Noooo.”Yes.“Definitely not impossible. Let me talk to Julian. I think we can make it happen.” And I realize how badly I want to makeit happen for her. The idea of pulling it off with Julian excites me. Working together, planning the event as a team, doing something for someone who’s part of my life—my old life. And maybe that’s why. Some part of me wants to show off my life and my relationship to the haters in Oak Valley. Guess I’m not as evolved as I like to think. I want Julian to agree to this more than I’ve wanted anything in a long time—except him. I always want him more than anything else.
***
“They’re getting married.” I set the phone face down on the bar and reach for my coffee.
Julian leans against the counter across from me and sips from his mug, eyeing me over the rim. “Well, they’re engaged, so that’s a reasonable next step,” he responds, lowering his mug.
“It’s just so fast. I mean, I guess they’re already living together, so what’s the difference?”
Julian’s eyebrow arches at my logic.
“For them,” I add.
He lowers it and smirks.
“They wanna do it here. At the beach on Blue Lake. Before the weather gets too cold.”
“So . . . right away . . .” Julian’s eyes look beyond the kitchen, and I can see the wheels turning before he says another word. “This could be fun.”
