Page 67 of Forever Wild

“Dinner?” I ask.

“Always.” She drops onto the couch, leaning over the coffee table where I’ve set up her meal.

We both dig in, eating in a comfortable silence while Monica and Chandler bicker about something in the background.

“So, you doing okay?” I ask around the bacon burger in my mouth.

Dipping a fry into our shared milkshake, she nods. “Yep. And truly, Jameo, you don’t need to worry about me. Like I said, I wasn’t even going to tell you about it until it happened to come up in conversation. If we could act like we’ve both slept with someone before, that would be great.” She holds up a hand, emphasizing her point. “And I promise I’m not about to become a stage-five, virgin clinger.”

I squint my eyes at her before guessing, “Wedding Crashers?”

“M-hm.”

“Your extraordinary ability to quote movies aside, I feel like there are a couple of things to unpack in there.”

“Can we not?”

I shake my head. “No, I feel we must. First, if you wouldn’t have told me, I would’ve been really fucking offended. Honestly, I’m pretty offended that you continue to tell me that you weren’t going to. You should be able to trust me, B. With anything.” When she starts to cut in, I hold up two fingers. “Second, you haven’t slept with someone before, so, no, we aren’t going to act like it was just another hookup. I’m going to make sure you know that it was special. I am not taking it lightly that I was the one you decided was important enough to take that step with. Plus, it wasn’t just sleeping with someone for me. It was sleeping with you for the first time, and that makes it really fucking special in my book. And third—” I hold up a third finger as Bryn leans back and groans, “Jesus.”

“And third,” I continue, “please be a clinger. Maybe not stage five, but, like, maybe stage two?”

She scrunches up her nose. “That was surprisingly sweet. And you’re right, it would’ve been shitty of me not to tell you, but, honestly, it was always about me not feeling like it was a big deal, not about me not trusting you.” She chews her food for a few seconds before adding, “It was pretty fucking great, wasn’t it? That wasn’t just because I don’t have any other experience to compare it with?”

“Honestly?”

“No, please lie to me,” she jokes before widening her eyes, a hint of fear seeping through. “Actually, maybe do lie to me.”

“It was without a doubt the best sex I’ve ever had.”

She blinks. “I’m not sure if it was a lie or not.”

“Definitely not a lie.”

She smirks, turning back to her dinner.

“You know,” I say, “I wasn’t joking earlier. When we’re in Wild Bluffs, you should stay out with me instead of Kelsey.”

She finishes chewing, contemplating her answer with an angle of her head. “Doesn’t that feel like… Like actual clinger status? I’m 1000 percent in on this relationship, but we see each other one or two days every couple of weeks right now. Being on top of each other—”

I raise my eyebrows, causing her to roll her eyes.

“Not like that, you horndog,” she teases. “Don’t you think it would be a little too much too soon? I work from home. I’m around all the time. And you live in a hotel room. Where would I even take my work calls?”

I consider it. I really want to spend all my time with Bryn, but she’s probably right. Moving into a hotel room together doesn’t actually make sense.

“Okay, it might be a bit too much while I’m staying at the golf course. But can I still see you as much as humanly possible?”

A smile blooms on her face as she takes one last bite of her burger. “Deal. Now, are you ready for round two, or do you need a longer break, old man?”

“We are basically the same age!” I laugh before pulling her onto my lap and bringing her mouth down to meet mine.

Chapter thirty-three

Bryn

Me

*cherry emoji**explosion emoji*

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