Page 102 of Talk Birdie to Me

He laughed again. “No, not afraid of you. I was afraid of hurting you. Afraid of doing to you what my dad did to my mom. But Lauren helped me see that because I was afraid of that was evidence that I would never do that. The way I feel about you… there’s no way I’m even capable of that.”

“Oh, yeah?” Geena gave him a sly smile while she put her hands around him and closed what little space was left between them. “So you’re really sticking around?”

“Yup, you’re stuck with me.” He put his forehead against hers. “I love you, Geena.”

“So we aren’t doing the last name thing anymore?” she teased.

“Nope. I like the way your first name feels in my mouth.”

Geena couldn’t help smiling even more. She slid her hands up his chest and around his neck. “I love you too, Cody.”

They kissed again, longer and more intensely. She held him tight, afraid to let go. Afraid this was all an illusion.

“Tasty, tasty, tasty!”

They both broke into laughter at Gary’s interruption.

Yeah. This was real.

“We should probably head out, anyway. My parents are dying to meet you.”

“This is weird, right?” Cody raised his brow. “Like… soon?”

Geena shrugged. “Is your mom meeting us there?”

Her parents had insisted Cody and his mom come over for dinner. Geena had thought it was a bit much a bit soon also, but in the end, it just felt right having everyone together to celebrate all the things they had to celebrate.

“What’s your dad cooking in that smoker of his?”

“A bunch of stuff. I just know ribs for sure.”

Cody fell into a fit of laughter that confused the heck out of Geena.

“What’s so funny about ribs?”

“Remind me to tell you later,” he said. “Let’s head out. I’ve got a bottle of Chardonnay chilling in the car.”

It took Geena an extra beat to process that. “You got white wine?”

“Yeah,” Cody said, confusion splashed across his face. “Didn’t you say red wine gives you headaches?”

The butterflies continued to flutter as she gave him another quick kiss.

“I sure did.” She kissed him again, then said, “Let’s go before we’re late, while I thank you for remembering.”

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