Page 80 of Pretending I'm Yours

“Ditto,” he says, just as the crowd reaches “one” and shouts of Happy New Year fill the room. He kisses me slow and deep—my first New Year’s kiss ever—making my toes curl in my heels. By the time we part, fireworks are exploding over the city, streaking the sky with color.

We watch the show, oohing and ahhing along with everyone else, letting ourselves be swept up in the magic. The last of the display is ending and we’re about to head back to our table, when my phone buzzes several times in my clutch. I pull it out to see a string of photographs from Elaina of Sully and Weaver embracing at the cat café New Year’s Eve party she throws every year, Sully now sporting a giant ring on her left hand.

I suck in a happy breath. “Oh my God! Weaver proposed! And Sully said yes.” I turn the phone toward Anthony, making him smile.

“Good for them,” he says. “I had a feeling about them from the moment they met.”

I had that feeling, too.

And I have that feeling now, about us. I wouldn’t be surprised to be engaged before next New Year’s Eve. Like Anthony said, when you know, you know, and I already know there’s never going to be anyone as perfect for me as him.

We hit the dance floor again, spinning until my feet start to ache, then return to our table for dessert—a chocolate soufflé that melts on my tongue and sets me to moaning a second time.

“I’m jealous again,” he says with a playful arch of his brow. “Can I please take you home now, before I have to challenge that soufflé to a duel?”

“A duel?” I ask as I lick chocolate from my spoon. “Sounds exciting. But yes, I’m ready to go. We need to see if that bed is as comfortable as it looked.”

“And if that bathtub is big enough for two,” he adds, motioning for the check.

Spoiler alert—the bathtub is totally big enough for two, and as Anthony gives me a very naughty bath I’ll never forget, I’m more excited for the new year than ever.

The future is looking bright.

So bright that I’m not surprised when Sydney texts a short time later to share that she’s pregnant and expecting a baby in July. And that she wants Elaina, me, and Sully to all be godmothers for her little one.

“A baby,” I whisper, cuddling closer to Anthony in the shadowy hotel room after I’ve put my phone on to charge. “I can’t believe it. Time is flying by so fast. It seems like just yesterday that we were staying up all night at a sleepover at Sully’s, daydreaming about the day we’d get our first kisses.”

“How was your first kiss?” Anthony asks.

I shudder. “Horrible. How about you?”

“Also, pretty bad. But it was Bailey Anne, so we laughed about it after and decided we should never be more than good friends.”

I prop up on my arms, studying him in the darkness. “Really? Bailey Anne? How old were you?”

“Twelve,” he says. “And we both thought kissing was overrated. Though she changed her mind about that pretty quickly when she and Charlie Slater started dating the next year.”

“Well, I’m sure Charlie had nothing on you, sexy,” I say. “Though I confess I’m glad Bailey Anne doesn’t like you in that way. I’d like to be her friend. She’s cool.”

“I bet she’d like that too,” he says.

But there’s a strained quality in his voice that makes me ask, “Are you sure? You sound funny. Don’t you think we’d get along?”

He shakes his head slightly. “No, I do. I was just thinking about Sydney and the baby. Her boyfriend’s older, right?”

I nod. “Yeah. She actually briefly dated his son before they got together. It was major drama at the time, but they all worked through it.”

“She isn’t worried about starting a family with someone so much older?” Anthony asks. “Worried that he might not be around for the long haul? I mean, I’d love to have a family, but I’ve kind of come to terms with the fact that it doesn’t seem to be in the cards for me. What about you? Do you want kids someday?”

I cock my head, emotion swelling in my chest as I realize where he’s going with this. “Yes, I would. And I wouldn’t hesitate to try for a family with aslightlyolder man. Especially if he was a kind, generous person who went out of his way to help teens in trouble, put family first, and loved coming inside me as much as a certain person I know loves coming inside me.”

“Yeah?” he asks, clearly touched. And amused. He’s smiling so hard our teeth bump together as he kisses me. “Speaking of coming inside you,” he mumbles, as he rolls on top of me. “I really do love it.”

As we make love again, slow and sweet, I’m suddenly awash in the certainty that everything is going to work out better than I could have dreamed.

And that the man I love is going to be there every step of the way, helping me dream even bigger.

epilogue

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