Page 136 of The Way We Score

Our feet are on the ground, and we’re swinging slowly. “I’ve got one.” Garrett picks up my hand, threading our fingers together. “What’s the corniest love song you’d dedicate to me?”

“The corniest?”

“The absolute worst. The cheesiest love song you could long-distance dedicate to yours truly.”

“I actually have one.” I don’t even have to think, and my lips twist in embarrassment. “It’s too sappy.”

“That’s the point. The sappier the better. Tell me how much you can’t live without me, Liv.”

I put my hands over my face to hide as I say it. “A Thousand Years.”

“Which one is that?” He frowns.

“You know, the one about dying every day…”

“Waiting for you?”

“Yes.” My cheeks flame, because it’s true. “One time I was listening to it, and I started to cry.”

His eyes warm, and he catches the back of my neck, pulling me closer to kiss my lips. “That’s really hot, Liv.”

“It’s not hot. It’s sappy.”

“It’s giving me a boner. We should try nipple stimulation again.”

“No.” I shake my head. “I could die.”

“Every day, waiting for me?” His brows rise, and I give him a playful shove.

“Your turn, and it better be sappy.”

“Easy—‘Don’t Want to Miss a Thing’ by Aerosmith.”

“From that BruceWillis movie?”

“Yep,Armageddon. Don’t want to close my eyes or fall asleep or anything.”

Warmth spreads in my chest, and I reach up to pull his lips to mine again. Our mouths open, and our tongues curl. His hand is on my breast, moving under my shirt when Dylan interrupts us.

“Whoa! Sorry!” She turns around on the landing, grabbing at the screen door to get it open again. “Pretend I’m not here!”

He looks into my eyes, and we both laugh. “That’s a good game. We should play it again after lunch.”

“If I don’t have this baby…”

Holding my hands, he helps me out of the hammock, and we go into the restaurant. Dylan has plates set on a table, since I can’t fit in a booth anymore, and Garrett holds the chair as I ease into it.

“Gigi, come out!” I cry, resting my elbow on the table. “What are you afraid of?”

“Are you kidding?” Craig puts a glass of milk beside me. “Have you seen the world we’re living in?”

“Stop!” I hold up my hand. “I can’t carry this baby inside me until the world improves. I’ll explode.”

“Did you know elephants gestate for two years?” Dylan puts a platter of eggplant covered in a peppery red sauce in front of us.

“Dylan…” I cut my eyes up at her, and she starts to laugh.

“Sorry.”

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