Page 59 of Puck & Make Up

“So in along vein…” I say.

He looks up at me, eyebrows raised.

“Think you can manage the inventory on your own?”

His mouth twitches. “I’ll pay for the inevitable tech support.”

“You’ll be fine.” I nudge his shoulder with mine then let him pull me into a quick hug.

“I know I will be,” he says as I grab my purse and jacket.

“And I’m a phone call away if you need me.”

“Don’t you mean you’re just upstairs?”

I still, smile. “No.”

His brows shoot up, and my smile widens.

“Well, about Fox…”

“Yes?”

“Turns out that the college in San Jose is pretty good.”

Those eyebrows shoot higher.

“And so Fox asked me to move in with him.” My cheeks hurt from smiling so widely. “You know, to make the commute shorter.”

“Right,” he says, his tone dry.

“I’m ready to go out there and live.”

My uncle nods approvingly. “I’ll make sure to save plenty of glasses for you to polish when you deign to make it back to town, kid.”

Grinning, I shake my head at him, then lean over the bar and kiss his cheek. “As long as you don’t mess with my inventory system, I’ll polish all the glasses you want.”

We exchange goodbyes, which is really just me saying the words and him waving a hand in my direction before he disappears back into the stock room, and then I head outside to my car, thinking about the offer Fox had extended last night.

You’re spending most of your time here as it is, sugar. Why don’t you just make it official?

And…

My TV’s better to watch all those crappy movies, right?

But other than that he hadn’t pushed. Just made the offer, told me to think about it.

And…I had.

And—

I skid to a halt in the parking lot, eyes going wide at the sight of a big, burly hockey player carrying a box I’d packed this morning to my car.

My heart squeezes.

I’d thought about it.

And…I’m going to go for it.

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