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“Hi.”

“You okay?” He motioned to how I had started holding on to thepostof the porch and was squeezing so hard my knuckles were white.

“Um,” I took my hands down and wiped them on my pants. “Yeah.”

He walked closer, keeping his eyes on mine and a small smile on his face. There was a wary gaze in his eyes, but he didn’t speak again until he was on the bottom step and even with my height.

“I was glad you asked me to come over.” He reached for my hand and caressed it with his thumb, before pulling it to his lips. “I just hope everything’s okay.”

“It is, or it will be.” I pulled his hand and led him the rest of the way up the porch stairs, then into the front door. Originally, I thought I’d stay outside, but I could see someone lurking across the street, a few doors down from Ms. Ellison. The neighbors were nosy, and I bet they all wanted to be the first to report when Easton and I were no longer seeing each other.

“Max okay?” Easton asked as he sat on the couch. “I’ve missed him.”

His tone was sad as he spoke about Max. No matter how sure I was that he and I needed to be friends, I was twice as sure that he loved Max and missed him. I vowed to let him and Max remain friends as well.

“Max is good, back in school. I really am sorry for the way I snapped at you at the clinic, by the way. I know you were?—”

“Hey,” Easton spoke softly and grabbed my hand, pulling me to sit beside him. “You don’t have to apologize, Jess. It was scary, and stressful, and to be honest, you were right. You didn’t owe it to me to tell me you were heading to Atlanta. I shouldn’t have even asked at that moment why you didn’t.”

Tears brimmed my eyes because I expected him to be a little more disgruntled about that moment. It would make what I had to say next that much easier. Why did he have to be so… perfect?

“We’re done,” I bluntly spit out, scared if I said anything else I’d forget why I had called him in the first place.

“You think so?” He smirked, almost looking bashful.

“We have to be.” Why didn’t he seem shocked or angry? Why didn’t he look taken aback from my words? Why didn’t he seem to be taking me seriously?

“You warned me, didn’t ya?”

I nodded, swallowing the ache that coursed through my body. The urge to climb in his lap and tell him to forget what I had just said was overwhelming.

“But I warned you too, remember?” He continued, lifting my chin slightly so that I was looking directly in his eyes. “I can wait as long as I have to.”

“Easton,” I shook my head, my voice cracking. “You don’t mean that. You?—”

His mouth against mine silenced me, and my arms wrapped around his neck. It had been my intention to tell him thatit wasn’t just about me and Max, and that I knew he had unfinished business with Rory.

But that all was lost because what I really wanted was exactly what he was giving me. He had a way of making me forget, taking me away from all the things that seemed like trouble when I was alone and left to overthink.

“I’ll wait,” he mumbled against my lips, “I mean it more now than I did the first time I said it.”

He trailed his lips away from my mouth and down my neck, moaning against my skin as his tongue snuck out to taste. An involuntary tremble coursed through me, and tears once again ran down my cheek. Not in sadness, but in need.

“Please let me touch you,” Easton begged.

I was already nodding my head, wanting him too badly to finish the conversation I had brought him there to have. That conversation could be had later, and I rationalized that we needed a proper goodbye. The last time we were together wasn’t supposed to be the last time.

“Touch me,” I practically demanded, which was such a contrast to the last words I had tried saying.

Easton’s fingers slid up my inner thigh, slowly making their way under the dress I was suddenly thankful that I had worn. When he reached the apex of my legs, he snuck one finger under the fabric of my panties and gently rubbed his knuckle over my clit.

“I’m gonna let you finish telling me whatever you need to tell me, baby. You deserve to say anything you want to me, even if I’m not gonna like it. But before you do, I need the chance to remind you how perfect we are together.”

He growled the word perfect, making me nod in agreement. Then his mouth was back on mine, his tongue pushing between my lips, and his finger grinding harder between my legs.

Without meaning to, I let out a loud moan that would have woken the neighbors if it hadn’t been the middle of the afternoon. Thankfully there were dogs barking, someone mowing a lawn, and cars driving by to drown out the noise. Based on how Easton was already making my body pulse, we were going to need all the background noises we could get to hide how vocal he was making me.

“Take me to bed,” I pleaded.

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