Page 64 of Make Me Dream of You

I came harder than I have in a long time. Maybe ever.

And it was all Livvy.

Livvy’s eyes are wide when Wood hands her a plate piled high with warm slices of bread.

“I made some honey butter, too, if you want.”

“Oh, yes, please. Thank you.” Livvy takes the heaping plate of bread and sits down.

I sit next to her with my coffee, and she mouths help me. I chuckle and take the piece of zucchini bread, devouring it before Wood has a chance to sit down.

Bex saunters out to the kitchen, yawning in an off-the-shoulder sweatshirt and little athletic shorts, just as Wood sits down with us.

“Have some bread,” Wood says.

“Wood made bread,” Livvy says, biting her lip and smirking.

“A lot of bread,” I add.

“Holy shit.” Bex gets the blender out and sets it by the sink along with ingredients to make a smoothie.

“So…” Wood says casually while slathering honey butter on his banana bread. “What happened last night?”

“What do you mean?” I ask at the same time that Livvy says, “Nothing.”

Bex starts the blender, and it whirls to life in all its deafening glory, crushing up the fruit and ice, the sound of it vibrating off all the hard surfaces in the kitchen.

Livvy and I exchange a glance, her pretty blush returning to her cheeks and ears.

She’s thinking about last night again. I know it. And so am I.

The blender stops. Wood’s mouth is full of banana bread.

“I mean,” he says, chewing, “does anyone have any news to share? Any new developments?”

I shoot a look to Livvy again. He’s not talking about what she saw me doing last night. There’s no way he’d know about that.

Then why are your hands sweaty?

He’s getting at something else, but I don’t know what it is.

“Ugh.” Bex walks around the counter with her giant purple smoothie. “I have some news.” She plops down next to Livvy and takes a sip of her smoothie. It’s thick. It takes forever to inch up the straw.

She finally gets some to her lips.

Wood’s knee is bouncing, eyes on her. “What is it? What’s the news?”

She swallows. “Oh, so get this. Last night at their anniversary dinner Spencer told Macy that since he’s going out of town this week for a work conference, and his brother is living there right now, too, he doesn’t think it’s”—she uses air quotes and rolls her eyes—“appropriate for her to stay there alone with his brother.”

“That’s an icky thing to say,” Livvy says, scrunching up her face.

“Right? He actually wanted her to find somewhere else to stay this week. So fucked up.”

Wood is unusually quiet, buttering more bread.

“So, anyway,” Bex continues, “I’m going to be staying over at Spencer’s place with Macy and his brother this week.”

Wood looks up from his bread. “Did he propose last night?”

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