Page 60 of That Kiss

“‘You’ and ‘us’ are my favorite things to think about.” He’s walking us backward but I press against his chest.

“No, there are way too many people here tonight.” I giggle and he stops to look around.

“Fine, but when I get you home tonight . . .” His lips trail down my neck, and once again, I’m completely lost in him.

Since it’s the last night of the Fest, it’s packed, but it makes our shift in the beer tent fly by.

“Ugh, I hate how much I smell like beer,” I groan, trying to mask it with perfume.

“Now you just smell like you’re drinking beer in a rose garden.” Milly wrinkles her nose, offering me a sympathetic smile.

“Great, that means I smell like my grandma.” I laugh, remembering her floral perfume that always hung heavy in the air.

“Where’d Deck run off to?” she asks as she scans the crowd.

“Oh, Celeste asked him to be the emcee for the auction later, so he ran over to talk to her,” I point toward the grandstand, “somewhere over there.”

“Good, that means I can talk to you without him here.” I lift my eyes to meet hers and she has a huge grin on her face.

“Ohhh,” I feel a familiar blush creeping up my neck, “so yeah, we’re, um, kind of together—oof!” She grabs me, pulling me against her and wrapping her arms around my neck.

“We’re going to be sisters!” She can’t contain her enthusiasm, her arms squeezing me tighter.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I laugh, pushing her back slightly, “just dating, not engaged.”

“Oh please,” she links her arm through mine as we head out into the crowd, “we both know that it’s only a matter of time before you’ve got a rock on your finger and a baby in your belly.”

I laugh along with her, my stomach clenching. I haven’t allowed myself to think that far ahead, and while I know that Deck has made two comments now about marrying me, I’m also aware that we’re both wrapped up in the newness of everything. I want those things—I want to marry Decker and build a family and a life with him more than anything—but I’m scared. Scared that coming from a recent near-engagement, he might not want to jump into something so serious once the excitement dies down.

“How’d you find out?”

“Seriously?” She rolls her eyes. “Well, first of all, I technically didn’t know. I mean, I assumed after watching you two in that tent for, like, four seconds, but you just told me when I said I wanted to talk to you.”

“You bitch,” I tug her arm and she falls into a fit of giggles, “you tricked me.”

“Are you guys still keeping it a secret?”

I shake my head. “We just haven’t told anyone yet. We were trying to keep it a secret, or at least, I asked him to—just so we could enjoy each other a tiny bit before it became the next big gossip topic. But then I came home from work and he was sitting at the kitchen table, confessing his love for me to my parents.”

“He what?” She stops, her mouth hanging open. “And you’re the one acting like me bringing up marriage is moving too fast?” She laughs but I can see the tears pooling in her eyes.

“Oh God, Mill, don’t start crying!” I pull her aside so we aren’t in the middle of everyone.

“I’m just so happy for you both,” she fans her face, “I’m gonna have a sister.”

I try to get her off the topic, asking her about Kent and how life is going in Denver now that they’ve bought a house there, but it’s no use. She can’t keep the smile from her face as she talks about our nonexistent wedding plans and how our kids will be best friends someday. But 10 minutes later, I, too, am completely lost in the idea of what it would be like to be Mrs. Decker Slade.

“Hey.” I can’t get the stupid grin off my face when I finally reunite with Decker. He’s standing behind the main stage, setting up the mic.

“Hey yourself.” He doesn’t care that there are a few people milling around us as he pulls me to him by my waist and kisses me.

“Your sister knows.”

“Ranger tell her?”

“Ranger knows too?” I smile.

“Um, yeah, I kind of just let it all out to him after Camilla left. I felt like I was losing my mind and just needed to tell someone.”

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