Page 98 of The Idiot

“Tell me,” he wheezes, convulsing in my arms. “Tell me again.”

I can feel a delirious smile on my face even as I tremble and twitch. He does this every time he comes now, and it’ll never get old.

“I love you.” Placing sloppy, sated kisses all over his face, I repeat it around his dopey smile. “I love you.”

Collapsing onto my chest, he makes a sound of pure contentment, and mumbles my favorite part of what’s becoming a ritual. “Good. Because I love you, back.”

We just sit, breathing, sighing, slowly becoming more boneless until the chill starts to settle in. When he shivers in my arms, I grab my coat and drape it over his back.

“Thanks.”

“Yeah. It’s not exactly harness weather.”

Snickering, he circles his finger through my chest hair. “I was making a fashion statement.”

“Was it everything you hoped it would be?”

Lifting his head, he gives me a thoughtful smile. “Yeah. More, actually. A lot more. Fishy,” he adds, his nose twitching, “but wonderful.”

“Yeah,” I agree because I know there aren’t adequate words to describe all the tenderness in my heart at the moment.

“Um, I’m really sorry about your fishing pole, though. I didn’t even know I was that flexible.”

“It’s alright.” I give him a squeeze with my arms. “Think I caught a good one without it.”

Chuckling, he grabs my face and plants one of his playful kisses on my lips. “Yeah, you did. Are you going to take me home and mount me on your wall?”

Oh, Jesse.

Jesse. Jesse. Jesse.

Epilogue

Jesse

“Come on, Baloney! Get that sexy ass of yours a’moving.”

I really love it when he does that perturbed eyebrow arch now. Does he think it instills any fear in me?

Silly Murph. He’s so whooped. He loves me too much to kick me in the bussy.

Yeah. I looked it up. And then I channeled Dixon Dallas and made him kiss it to apologize. Highly recommend. Five stars on Yep.

Taking his sweet-ass time, he finally opens Delores’ passenger door and tosses a stack of Christmas cards on the seat before climbing in.

“It’s our first holiday with our families as a couple. I wanted to make sure I look alright.”

“I didn’t say anything! I just came out to warm up the truck for you, so it’d be nice and cozy. I’m a good boyfriend like that.”

Side-eyeing me, he looks amused. “You sure like saying that word.”

“Don’t you?”

“Yeah, and I like hearing it. It’s just… still surreal, I guess.”

Aw. My big tender bear. Leaning over, I press my lips to his for a hot minute. “Well, get used to it. You’re mine. I’ve got the button to prove it.”

Tapping the button pinned to my sweater, I flash him a wink. I’ve always enjoyed witnessing that flicker in his expression when I can crack his deadpan exterior and get a laugh out of him.

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