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I reached over, cupping his face. “And I love you.” I pulled him to me for a gentle kiss, the kind I’d never tire of.
Ethan’s stomach rumbled, demanding attention and breaking our peaceful moment. We laughed as he rolled his eyes.
“I suppose we should clean up and have that dinner,” I said as my stomach growled in agreement.
He rolled off the bed and offered me a hand up. “Please stay over.”
“I’d like that.” I led us to the en suite. “Waking up with you the other day was the best. I’d like to do that as much as possible.”
“Me too.” He trailed kisses from my cheek to my mouth.
He opened the closet and pulled out a towel, setting it next to his on the rack while I worked to get the water temperature right—simple teamwork that felt like a preview of countless times ahead.
THIRTY-THREE
ETHAN
Andre and I pulled into adjacent parking spots in front of Special Blend. It’d only been a few minutes since we’d left my house, but my heart leapt at seeing him again. We grinned at each other through the car windows.
“Good morning.” I kissed him, oblivious to any curious eyes behind Special Blend’s windows. Somewhere, I imagined, phones were buzzing with texts confirming that we’d been spotted together and that we’d made up. “Again.”
“Hi.” His gorgeous brown eyes sparkled in the sun. “Please tell me we can have a relaxing morning when we get to the weekend.”
“Sunday,” I said as we both reached for the door. We laughed. “I got that.”
Andre stepped inside, and I followed.
“This camp session ends on Saturday around noon, and then we don’t start again until Monday.”
The cafe buzzed with its usual morning crowd. Several patrons smiled in our direction.
“Good. I’m going to tell Clara the library is all hers on Sunday.”
Jenny’s face lit up when we stepped up to the counter. “It’s good to see you here. Together!” Her hands were already reaching for cups. “What’ll it be today?”
I decided to go for something different and ordered a sausage, egg, and avocado spread on a toasted everything bagel. Andre also mixed it up with egg, maple caramelized bacon, pepper jack cheese, and sun-dried tomato spread on a maple bagel. For our beverages, we both went for lattes.
Jenny nodded. “Grab your regular table. I’ll get all this right out to you.”
“Could you add a couple maple croissants too?” Watching them slide into the display case, I wanted to pounce on those because they never lasted long.
“Good call,” Andre added.
We settled into our spot, our knees brushing under the small table.
“I like the constant smile that’s been on your face since we talked last night.” Andre took my hand.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever been this happy.” I squeezed his fingers. “There are a lot of great people and things in my life, but I understand now what it means when someone says they found their person.”
Jenny appeared with our drinks. “I’ll have the rest out to you in a couple minutes.”
Once she left, Andre took a sip of his latte, leaving a bit of foam on his upper lip. I reached over and wiped it away with my thumb. He caught my hand and pressed a kiss to my palm. My heart stuttered, and I was sure his affections would always do that.
“I’ve never been happier. I’m glad we got past our… fight? Hurt? Whatever you want to call what went down.” He bumped his knee against mine and left it there. “Let’s not do that again.”
“Hopefully, we learned enough to avoid it in the future. Couples’ therapy should help. Keep us from reverting to our past selves.”
The arrival of our breakfast paused our conversation. Jenny set down plates with our sandwiches, the croissants, and—surprisingly—a maple tart and maple scone. “Enjoy your breakfast and maybe the extras later in the day.” She also offered a couple of to-go containers. “Just in case you need to take some with you.”
