“No fair,” I mutter.
“You love the ducks.” He says it with such assurance, like there is no other option.
With a laugh, I yank him closer, and his arms encircle me at once. “This is the real deal, though,” I say. “We’ll be cleaning up each other’s messes. Fighting over the remote. Making indelicate use of the bathrooms.”
He snorts. “Such a pessimist.”
“I hog covers.”
“I already know this.”
With a frown, I snake my arms around his shoulders. “I leave the lights on.”
His shrug accompanies a quick kiss. “That’s what switches are for.”
“I never replace the toilet paper.”
“Heathen!” The next kiss is longer, more persuasive.
“I always use all the hot water.”
He pauses. “Well, there’s the dealbreaker.”
I sneak my hand beneath his shirt to pinch his side, and he laughs.
“It’s no pressure,” he says. “If you aren’t ready, it’s okay. You can stay with me until you find a place.”
My gaze snags on his, and his smile fades into something softer, more serious. I press myself into him. “Did you mean what you said? About marrying me?”
His smile is slow to dawn, but it’s bright. Coruscated. “Didn’t I tell you I was going to marry you the first day I met you?”
I roll my eyes. “You were joking.”
“Was I? Can’t recall.” He cups my face. “Come live with me, Joss. Be with me. I’m showing you my hand. It’s your turn. Call, raise or fold.”
All at once, the ruination behind me doesn’t sting so bad. Instead, a dawning excitement bubbles to the surface, lighting my blood neon. I’ve tossed the old, scared, guarded Jocelyn in with the detritus of my former life, and from the destruction, someone healthier has risen.
A fresh start.
I give him my biggest, truest grin. “All right. Fine. Let’s go home.”
Epilogue
Jocelyn
10 months later, Pool Party Saturday
He’s holding a baby.
My Asher. Holding a baby.
I never thought such a thing would affect me, but here I am. Confounded.
Yayoi and Geoff’s genetics produced an especially cute specimen of human, and Asher’s in love. This isn’t the first time he’s held baby Isley. Itisthe first time the sight has made me want to tear his clothes off.
He took her to the rocker on the other side of the porch while Yayoi, Geoff and I eat at the table. Most everyone is still in the pool, shouting about who’s cheating at volleyball.
I can’t take my eyes off Asher. Maybe it’s that goofy smileon his face. Or that he keeps calling her Isley Sugar Pops in his baby voice. Or maybe it’s just him. I’m still not sure I want kids, but maybe I’m forming a second opinion. Besides, I don’t particularly mind practicing for it, and my body kind of thinks we should practiceright now.
