Page 89 of Chase Our Forever

Pippa’s chair crashes to the ground as she stands up and claps dramatically. Mare joins her until the entire table stands up and is clapping for us.

Liv buries her face in the crook of my neck, her body shaking with laughter. “Oh my god, they’re making this a bigger deal than I thought,” she mutters for only me to hear.

“Let them.” I kiss her temple, pure happiness radiating through me at the way everyone celebrates us.

Almost everyone here tonight saw me in my darkest hours. They sat there with me, letting me have all the time I needed to mourn the life I thought I’d have with Selena. They encouraged me to go on and were there for me despite the shell of a man I became after Selena’s death.

To have them here with me tonight, to get to tell them that I made it out and somehow got lucky enough to find love again,it means everything to me. I want to cherish this moment with them.

“I knew it!” Pippa gloats, taking a seat again. She begins to pull one bottle of beer after the next out of the buckets that line our table until everyone has one in their hand. She points the top of her bottle at Liv and me with a wide grin on her face. “Lexi and I are matchmakers.”

Liv reaches out her hand and waits for Pippa to take it. “It really is because of you, Pippa. Thank you.”

Camden lets out a low, amused groan as Liv pulls her hand back. “Giving her the credit is really going to go to her head.”

Pippa places a kiss on his cheek. “Hell yes it is, Hunter. Deal with it.”

I shake my head at them before looking back to the people here to celebrate my birthday. “No matter who we’re giving credit to, I really just have to give credit to the woman right next to me.” I look at Liv, reaching up to cup her cheek. “I’m so happy you took that nanny job and that you didn’t let my grumpiness deter you for a second. I love you and I’m excited for the world to know it.”

Liv leans forward and kisses me. There’s a wild smile on her mouth when she pulls away. “I like the grumpiness. Don’t ever change.”

This makes everyone break out into laughter.

“To the happy couple!” Hattie calls, holding up her beer to cheers. “To Liv’s quick recovery. And I guess Dean’s birthday.”

Everyone picks up their beers and joins in on the cheers before taking a drink. We settle into an easy conversation between all of us. Since Selena passed, I hadn’t celebrated my birthday. It didn’t feel right to celebrate getting another year older when she’d never have another birthday again.

Now, I’m in a better mindset where I can accept that Selena would want me to celebrate every single birthday I’m given. Shewouldn’t want me to live in a state of darkness and grief forever. I don’t know if that’s something I wouldn’t have realized if not for Liv.

I grab the corner of Liv’s chair and pull her closer to me, wanting her as close as possible as I put my arm around the back of her chair.

“Liv! Are you going to ride the bull?” Pippa asks, wagging her eyebrows in excitement.

Liv’s eyes go wide before she shakes her head. “I don’t think I wore the right clothes for that. I think I’d rip my jeans.”

I laugh. “I’ll buy you another pair again. Ride the bull if you want.”

Liv’s head whips in my direction. “What do you meanagain? I bought these at Sutten Mountain Treasures.”

I clear my throat. “Yeah. You did.” It turns out I’m a terrible liar because she raises her eyebrows and playfully swats at my stomach.

“That’s why Ms. Beth was acting so weird!” She lowers her voice a little as Pippa gets distracted by another conversation, leaving no one paying attention to us for the moment. “I didn’t just get lucky, did I? All those new clothes there that happened to be my size were all because of you, weren’t they?”

My eyes roam her face as I try to figure out if she’s upset or not. It was something I was never going to tell her. It seemed important for her to buy her own clothes; I just wanted to make sure she had options. But the smile on her face tells me that maybe she isn’t upset at all. “Okay, I admit it was me, but baby, I only did it because I wanted you to have new clo?—”

She interrupts me by kissing me. The kiss is a little heated, considering we have a table full of people bearing witness to it, but maybe they’re all too distracted with their own conversations to even notice. It doesn’t really matter even if they are watching. They can watch me kiss my girl for all I care.

Eventually, she pulls away. “If it wasn’t so thoughtful, maybe I’d be mad at you, but that’s one of the sweetest things anyone’s ever done for me. Thank you.”

I smile, pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose before leaning back in my chair. “I can’t wait to do even sweeter things for you, sunshine. You deserve the world, and I’m going to give it to you.”

She smiles, her dimples making an appearance. “I can’t wait. Now, let’s get back to celebratingyou. It is your birthday, after all. And I want us to have the best night ever before I get you home and give you the rest of your gift.” She winks at me, and it makes my blood heat.

I lift an eyebrow. “The rest of my gift?”

She bites her lip playfully and nods. “I can’t tell you about it here, but something tells me you’ll really love it.”

I smile, knowingwhatevershe has planned, I’ll love. I’m already excited to get her alone to find out exactly what she means.

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