Page 111 of Accidentally Amy

“Iz,” I said, and she froze.

“This, um, is just…” She looked around at the kitchen, obviously trying to formulate some logical explanation. “Like a cleanup effort—”

“Did you go get all of this?” I asked, not meaning to sound so gruff.

She looked at me like she didn’t want to admit it, but also like she knew I already knew. “I don’t really think that’s any of your business.”

“Why?” I walked toward her,ather, crowding and stalking and just needing to becloser. She took a step backward, but I didn’t stop until her back was against the counter, her front pressed to mine. “Did you actually getinthe dumpster?”

She gnawed on her lower lip and shrugged.

I took her chin in my thumb and forefinger, raising her gaze, loving every expression that crossed the expanse of her face. “Is that the bottle of wine? And the pizza box?”

Some of the things I’d brought her yesterday—the wine, the gallon of ice cream, the flowers—had apparently been rescued from the dumpster.

The flowers were wilted and shredded and limply bending over the sides of a vase she’d put them in. The bottle of wine was in the sink, the label soaked because she’d clearly washed it; there was still a soap bubble on the dark glass. The ice-cream container, the pizza box—they were each sitting on the counter, scrubbed and drying.

Izzy sighed and looked embarrassed. “I just wanted to be able to save them, okay?”

That pinching feeling—fuck, it was going to kill me. Because it threatened to drop me as I looked at my dream girl, surrounded by my gifts that she’d dug out of a dumpster because she wanted to save them.Because I had gotten them for her.

God help me.

“Isabella Clarence, I love you so much that I can barely breathe. Please never change, okay?”

Her mouth curled into the sweetest smile and she said, “I won’t if you won’t, Blakey, um…shit, I don’t even know your middle name. What’s your middle name?”

“Clarence.” I looked down at her face and tried counting the constellation of freckles on her nose.One. Two. Three. Four—

“Shut up—you are lying!”

That made me laugh, because I wasstillshocked by our shared middle name. I watched her excited eyes and knew I’d never get sick of the wild animation of her face. She gaped at me, her pretty mouth wide open, and I said, “Swear to God.”

She blinked fast, then gave her head a shake, then wrapped her hand around my tie and gave it a tug. “This is, by far, the most shocking thing I’ve ever heard. Do you believe in fate, Mr. Chest?”

I swiped my thumbs over the soft skin of her cheeks—five, six, seven—and said the absolute truth that I felt in the very center of my soul. “I didn’t until I met you, Scooter’s Amy.”

Epilogue

Six months later

Izzy

“I refuse. I will not do it, no matter what you say.”

“Come on, Iz,” Blake said, kneeling in front of me. “Just say yes.”

“I would rather die,” I said, turning my head away from him. I couldn’t look at him when he was like that, gorgeous and half-dressed and giving me his hopeful look that was nearly impossible to deny. “And I probablywilldie if I do it.”

“I won’t let you die.” Blake glanced at his watch before saying, “Pleeeeeease?”

I shook my head. “Why did I ever give you Josh’s number?”

“Because you wanted to have sex all night and needed him to feed the Darkling, if I recall.” Blake stood from where he’dbeen crouched beside the couch and extended his hand. “Get up and come with me.”

“Have I ever told you that you look good in boxer briefs?” I asked, letting him pull me to my feet.

“A hundred times, but flattery won’t get you out of this. Come shower with me, and then let’s go kick some ass.”

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