Page 103 of The One I Left Behind

“Yeah, I think that’s only for her kids. I’m not going to get the same treatment.” I reach for a cookie that looks suspiciously like the ones Laurel sells.

Clayton slaps my hand. “That’s for Kait.”

I rock my head back and sneak a peek at Gillian, who smiles and says, “She’s coming over to hang out, so you and I are stuck in the bedroom.”

“Do you think I’m going to complain about that?” I wink at her.

“No!” Clayton says. “I better not hear any noises out of that room.”

We both laugh, and I grab Gillian by the waist, pretending to maul her neck. She can’t stop laughing, and Clayton keeps sighing as if we’re the biggest losers in the world.

Our house isn’t close to being done, but it will be before winter hits. My dad finally let me hire people to make the process faster. Said he was worried about the safety of Gillian and Clayton if I finished it myself. I still go over there and help the workers. The foreman doesn’t understand why, but my dad was right. Something about building your own house for your family feels good.

Gillian accepted a position with the lawyer in Hickory to do her new attorney training. From there she might start interviewing at firms in bigger cities. We’re unsure where the future will take us, and I’m not going to rush her to make a decision. I’ll follow her wherever she wants to go.

The doorbell rings, and we scurry into the bedroom, laughing the entire way. Gillian opens the bedroom door slightly to listen in.

“Give him some space.” I unpack my bag and shove some of my clothes into the drawers Gillian’s already emptied for me.

Yeah, my dad kicked me out, but we’d already talked about living together. With Clayton.

“Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something,” I say.

“Is it the football fundraiser we were supposed to be working on last night?”

“That was your fault. If you weren’t so hot, I could’ve kept my hands to myself.”

She laughs and lies on the bed, tempting me again.

“I want to call a family meeting.”

“For?”

“The keypad.”

She’s quiet. “How do you know the keypad code?”

I put one knee on the bed and crawl to her. “Because someone was drunk and told me. I’m smart, you know, so I figured out the date. Tell me, fiancée, why is your key code the day I left for Clemson?”

She nibbles on her cheek, and I hover over her, waiting for her answer.

“It was a reminder.”

“Of?”

“How much you hurt me. I changed it when you came back to town.”

“That makes a lot of sense why you couldn’t remember it when you were drunk. It was new.”

She nods. “You waited all this time to bring it up?”

I bend down and kiss her neck. “I wanted to win you back before I brought it up. I wanted to make sure we had a new date.” I kiss the other side of her neck. “So, I’m asking if we can use the date of our first family dinner?”

Her fingernails run through my hair. “I’ll put it on the agenda. You’ll need two out of the three votes.” She cringes as though I might not get them.

My fingers fall to her ribs, tickling her. She screams, and I cover her mouth as she squirms to get away from my hands.

A knock hits the door. “Come on, guys. This is embarrassing.”

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