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“Jason, I’ve been your girlfriend for like five minutes.”

“Yeah, and I already told them all about you.”

I pulled my face back to look at him. “You did? What did you say?”

“The truth. That you held my dog ransom until I agreed to go out on a date with you.”

I hit him and he chuckled.

“Come on. Don’t make me miss you for three days. It’ll be fun. Come with me.”

He said he’d miss me.I melted.

“Okay,” I said.

He beamed. “Yes?”

“Yes. Fine. Take me to Minnesota.”

Screw it. Why not? What else was I going to do while he was gone besides wish I were with him?

He smiled and put his forehead to mine, pulling me closer to him. “I want something else,” he said to my eyes.

I arched my eyebrow, but he just laughed.

“Not that. Although I wouldn’t mind that,” he added. “I want you to cook with my mom when we get there. It would mean a lot to her.”

I rubbed my nose to his. “You couldn’t stop me if you tried.”

He smiled and was leaning in to kiss me when Kristen popped her head into the kitchen. We jumped like teenagers who’d just gotten caught making out on the sofa.

“Hey! Get a room!” she said, talking into the microphone so it reverberated through the house. Then she whispered into the mic, “Seriously, the guest room is all made up. Make yourselves comfortable.” She bit her lip and bounced her eyebrows and then disappeared back into the living room.

Jason and I put our heads together and laughed.

“Come on. I want to sing a duet with you,” he said.

I groaned.

“Need a shot of courage? I bet Kristen has some tequila.” He grinned.

“Tequila officially tastes like the time I almost died. I’m going to have to go it sober.”

He chuckled and dragged me into the living room by the hand.

When “Love Shack” was over, Kristen roped me into singing “Hopelessly Devoted to You” with her. I died of embarrassment, but it was her birthday and Kristen was happy and that was what mattered.

Then the inevitable happened and Jason’s turn was up.

“What do you want me to sing?” he asked Kristen. “Any requests?”

“‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,’” she said, without even thinking about it.

It was for me. There was no question. I was going to kill her.

Jason put a thumb over his shoulder. “Hey, you know, I have my guitar in the truck. Would it be okay if I got it?”

Kristen’s eyes flew wide. “Seriously? Yes. Yes, you can get it. Are you kidding me? Go!”