Page 92 of Surprised By Her

Ryan scoffed. “I don’t hate it here. You’re here. And I like the beach. The rest of the town is growing on me. Good pizza.”

“But you’ve got so much money. You could live anywhere, do anything,” I said, and she put a finger to my lips.

“There’s nowhere else I want to be than with you, Everly,” she said.

When I didn’t try and protest again, she removed her finger.

“Kiss me,” I said, and she did, her mouth demanding and soft and aggressive and sweet all at once.

“I love you, too,” I said, a few tears running down my cheeks. “I love you and I want to be with you.”

Ryan exhaled shakily. “That’s a huge relief.”

“Is it?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said. “Kiss me again.”

I threw myself into her arms, the wishing rock falling from our hands. We didn’t need it anyway.

Epilogue

“Cupcake, this is ridiculous,” Ryan said as she stood on the porch of our new rental with her backpack. She shivered in the cold January air.

“Just smile,” I said, holding up my phone. “This is your first day of school and we need to document it.”

Ryan glared at me, but then she flashed a smile and I got a good shot.

“This is not my first day of school. I have a Master’s degree,” she said.

“Yes, but now you’re going back, and I am going to celebrate,” I said. “Now come and kiss me.”

She did, lifting me up in her arms the way I loved. Things had changed incredibly fast for us. At the beginning of last summer we had just met, and now in winter we were sharing a home and Ryan was headed off for her first day of school to get her teaching certificate on the way to becoming a gym teacher and coach, just like my mom. They’d formed a bond that made my heart sing. Mama adored Ryan too, even more so when her candles had arrived.

I sent the picture to the group chat and my phone started blowing up with messages for Ryan.

“You should see these,” I said, reading them.

“I put my phone on silent,” she said, but I reached into her pocket and pulled it out. She smiled softly as she read through the messages from all our friends.

“This is ridiculous,” Ryan said, but she was beaming.

“They love you,” I said.

Ryan looked up from her phone and slid it back into her coat pocket.

“I love you, and I’m so grateful that I met you,” she said. “I couldn’t have done any of this without you.”

“I love you, Ryan,” I said, gazing into her blue eyes. “I’m so glad I spilled coffee on you.”

She burst out laughing. “I’m glad I kissed you in that bathroom.”

“We’re never telling anyone that was our first kiss, right?”

She leaned down and our mouths met softly. “Never.”

“Go on, you don’t want to be late,” I told her, shivering. “And I need to get ready for work.”

Ryan’s eyes sparkled. “What if we both played hooky?”

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