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I lower my gaze to the bed. “Oh, I know Hart Winery. Remember, Elodie lives in Blossom Peak now.”

“I know. I just…” He moves his hand from my hip to the side of my face. “Fuck, the last thing I want to do is leave you alone right now.”

I don’t want to be alone right now either.

But maybe this is a good thing. Some space might help me decide whether this shift in how I see him is real—or if I’m using him to distract myself from every other change piling up in my life.

I know myself well enough that it wouldn’t surprise me. Lord knows I’ve made that kind of shitty decision before.

Trying to reassure him with my smile, I meet his gaze again. “I’ll be okay. Honestly, not having you as a distraction will help me get ahead with my schoolwork.”

Licking his lips, he studies me. “So I’m a distraction now?”

“Well, your dick is at least.”

He leans forward and captures my mouth with his own. “Care to let me distract you one more time tonight before I pass out?”

Moaning as his lips travel down my neck, I reply, “God, yes.”

“Not God, baby. Just me. And you’d better scream my name loud enough so everyone knows exactly who’s making you come undone.”

Chapter 24

Easton

We’re Having A…

I can barely keep my hands still on the steering wheel as I leave the community college job site and drive across town to the OB-GYN’s office.

Lennon is meeting me there for our appointment today, the appointment where we’ll hopefully find out the sex of the baby, as long as he or she cooperates.

According to my research, boys tend to be pretty casual about letting the world know they have a penis. After reading that, I have to admit it makes sense. Apparently, penis pride starts in the womb and never really goes away.

It’s just a guy thing most women will never understand.

But my nerves aren’t only about the outcome of the appointment. They’re also about the job that will take me out of town in a few days.

This past week has been incredible.

Lennon and I can’t get enough of each other, and every time she asks me to make her a grilled cheese sandwich, I feel like Rocky Balboa after scaling the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

She’s started to come to me for her foot rubs, doesn’t balk when I bring her cushion to the GVCC football games, and last night, she put her books aside completely as we sat on the couch and watched the Nashville Lightning hockey game together.

It feels like we’re married for real, and I’m fucking terrified that if I leave for the week, she’s going to talk herself out of wanting this for the long haul.

The thing is, I’m not sure how to approach that conversation with her. It’s only been two weeks since she learned the truth about prom night and allowed herself to see me as more than a friend.

I know where I’m at. I’m so fucking in love with her that I’d marry her tomorrow if we weren’t already married. Hell, I might ask her to do it again so I can say the vows I would have made if I’d known she was ready to hear them.

That’s not where we’re at, though. My feelings have always been there, but hers are brand-new. I’m apprehensive about telling her I’m in this for life. More than that, I’m terrified something might happen to her or the baby while I’m gone, and I’d never forgive myself for not being here.

Needing to vent, I call Owen as soon as I reach the main road. Luckily, my brother answers on the first ring. “Hardly working today?”

“No, I’m on my way to the OBGYN.”

“Didn’t realize you needed those types of services.”

I chuckle. “Fuck you.”