“There’s one in there for Morgan, too,” Felix continued. “I figure I owe him at least that much.”
“Perks of dating an author, huh?” I asked, turning my head to kiss the tip of Felix’s nose.
“Well, there’d have to besomeperks.”
I laughed, rubbing our noses together and turning so I was facing him, his hands falling to my sides.
“Were you finished for the day?” I asked, nodding over at Felix’s laptop. “’cause I could go for taking advantage of one or two of those perks.”
Epilogue
Felix
Two years later…
“Just get in the truck,” I said, shoving Kieran forward and darting ahead to open the passenger-side door for him. “Stop asking me where we’re going.”
“Do I need to pee before we go?” Kieran asked, holding the door but still not gettingintothe truck, like I’d asked.
He was lucky I loved him.
“I dunno, do you?”
“I mean, can I pee when we get there, and istherenearby or is this like a four hour trip?”
“It’s nearby, you can go when we get there, and I’m not giving you any other hints,” I said, swinging my keys as I walked around the front. “And there’s nothing in the back,” I added, catching Kieran peering into it. “Where’s your sense of adventure?”
“My sense of curiosity pushed it out of the way,” Kieran admitted, finally climbing into the truck next to me.
“Why are you like this?” I asked, trying to sound exhausted. It didn’t quite come out that way.
Kieran could tell I was excited about whatever we were doing, and that excitement was rubbing off.
“You wouldn’t want me any other way,” he said as I turned the engine over. “Have I mentioned lately that I love you?”
“This morning,” I said. “Still not telling you where we’re going until we get there.”
Kieran huffed playfully, but sat back in his seat and relaxed.
“Fine,” he said.
“Close your eyes,” I instructed, smiling to myself as I imagined the look on his face. He was going to besosurprised, and I wanted to make sure he got the full effect.
Kieran thought he hated surprises, but this was one he’d love.
“Fine,” he repeated. “I’m expecting generous compensation for my cooperation today.”
“Look at you, breaking out the five-dollar words,” I teased.
Kieran shrugs. “Happens when you spend two years of your life in a row with an author,” he said.
They’d been two great years.
I was hoping for about fifty or sixty more.
“You’re saying I’m a bad influence?” I asked.
“You’re aterribleinfluence and no one ever believes me. We’d live on mac ‘n’ cheese and fries if it was up to you. We’d have thirty cats and no towels.”
