Page 104
Savings because #responsible
The list continued on and on.
“JKH,” she breathed. “Jess, Kevin, Honey.”
Kevin lifted his chin and tucked her hair around her other shoulder, giving him enough room to kiss her neck. “Our budget.”
“Why would we need to share a budget?”
He tightened his hold around her waist. “Don’t run, okay?”
She hesitated, then after an exhale, she nodded.
He sighed, his warm breath raising goose bumps on her neck.
“I was going to ask you to move in with me.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jess immediately felt the need to bolt. She flinched. Kevin’s arm tightened around her waist, his lips now pressed to her neck like a brand.
She snapped her eyes shut and took a deep breath. Then another. Then another.
“Good job, sweetheart,” he murmured into her neck.
They remained silent for a couple of minutes, giving Jess time to sift through all of her complicated feelings. He drew circles on her stomach with his thumb, her T-shirt lifting with each stroke.
“M-move upstairs?” she finally asked, her voice cracking.
“I don’t have enough room for two beds up there,” he confessed. “We could save up and once we have enough, we move somewhere together.”
“You want to wait?”
“No, I want to have you now,” he confessed, kissing the soft spot under her ear. “But I also want you to be comfortable and have what you want. And if that means we wait to find you the perfect home, then I will wait.”
Jess turned to face him, curling her legs up by his side. “If that’s what you want, then why did you say you were going to ask me to move in with you. Did you change your mind?”
“After everything that happened last week with your family, watching all of the ways the four of you were hurting, I knew I couldn’t do that to you again. I couldn’t ask you to be ready for something that you so clearly told me you didn’t want. And you’d just said all of that stuff about commitment and feeling stuck—”
“Do you think that? Do you think we’ll feel stuck?”
Kevin tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear. “I think it’s normal in every relationship for those initial sparks to fade. We’ll have to work hard to create new sparks, find new ways to bring excitement into one another’s lives, to keep the flame ignited.” He gave her a coy smile. “But, I also am absolutely certain of one thing, with all of my heart.”
She blinked. “And that is?”
“That I will never, ever stop loving you. And I will never ever neglect you. You will always feel loved and cherished by me. Because I believe in us, and I will live out all of my days giving you a life that you deserve.”
“But doesn’t that scare you?” She whispered the question so softly, it felt like a secret. “Aren’t you scared of having to sacrifice that much for another person?”
“Nope.”
He was so sure of himself, his blunt refusal sucking the air from her lungs.
“I’m not afraid. I know my girl is going to take care of me, too.”
She grunted and crossed her arms. “And what makes you so sure that I will?”
“Jessica, why do you bring me a kanelbullar every day?”
