Page 117 of Sincerely, Your Enemy

Of course, that was before I woke up in his arms.

I’m one of those people who only sleeps well in their own bed, but to my disbelief, I slept like a baby—although that probably had something to do with TJ rubbing my back and playing with my hair until I passed out.

For the first time in a while, I feel hopeful and excited about the future. There are no clouds looming over our heads. Well, except for the fact that we still have to tell our friends we’re in a serious relationship.

We could’ve told them last night, but we didn’t feel like being bombarded with questions we still hadn’t answered for ourselves. TJ had just pulled me into his arms on the beanbag after we had sex when we heard the lake house’s sliding door open in the distance.

Our friends came strolling out onto the back deck with a portable speaker. The music blaring from it was so loud I was certain we’d get a noise complaint from the neighbors—until I remembered that we don’t have neighbors because we’restillin the middle of bumfuck nowhere.

We heard Chance say something about getting a fire started, and we immediately knew sexy time was over. The observatorygave us some privacy when the group was inside the house, but there’s no way the thing would’ve been soundproof enough to block out another round with them standing right outside.

We had no choice but to throw our bathing suits back on and do the walk of shame.

Chance, Theo, Finn, and Xavier started whistling and teasing the hell out of us as soon as we came out of the observatory together, both sporting messy hair and flushed complexions. We didn’t stop, though, making our way to the back door.

Then, after we changed into some warm clothes, we came back down to join the group around the firepit. TJ and I sat next to each other but made sure not to be too touchy—something we’d discussed and agreed on before we came back out.

As far as most of our friends are concerned, we’re still dating casually, so us having a quickie in the observatory isn’t exactly shocking. But I want the world to know we’re more than that now, which is why we waited until everyone was asleep for TJ to sneak into my bedroom.

We stayed up until 4:00 a.m., discussing the way we wanted to break it to them, and we decided to just cut to the chase and walk into the room holding hands in front of them the next day.

“Morning, girlfriend,” TJ says in a low, raspy voice, and I whisk my head to look at him. His eyes are half closed, but he’s smiling from ear to ear.

“How long have you been awake?” I ask, unable to contain my own smile.

He leans forward to press a kiss to my temple. “Like, thirty minutes. Just been contemplating how lucky I am to wake up next to you.”

I run a quick hand through my hair and wince. It’s full of knots—it was still wet from the hot tub when we headed up to bed. Pretty sure I could break a hairbrush in half like inThePrincess Diariesmakeover scene right now.

I press a loud kiss on his cheek. “Aw, I almost believe you.”

He laughs. “I’m serious. I don’t know what kind of Good Samaritan shit I did in another life, but it must’ve been pretty fucking epic to get me someone like you.”

I can’t stop a dopey grin from forming on my face. “Ew, you big cheeseball.”

His grin only grows. “You’re still smiling, though.”

He’s right, I am smiling.

Because I’m over the moon with joy right now. My stomach grumbles like it’s trying to start a symphony, and I grip my abdomen. I barely had anything for dinner last night.

“Let’s go down and get you something to eat,” TJ says as soon as my stomach is done throwing a tantrum.

I nod, watching as he rises off the bed in nothing but gray sweatpants. The muscles in his back quiver and stretch beneath his skin as he throws on a T-shirt, and I’m immediately transported back into the observatory.

We didn’t get to do round two because everyone came outside last night, and I’m not sure we’ll get another opportunity, seeing as we’re leaving tonight. Then, we’ll be back in my apartment, with my siblings right down the hall. Or at his house, with his sisteralsoright down the hall.

I don’t know what this guy is doing to me, but all I can think about right now is riding him until my legs fall off.

“Coming, baby?” he asks, snapping me out of it, and I swallow hard.

I push to my feet. “Yup.”

I make a beeline for my dresser and grab the outfit I’d laid out last night. I think the guys want to do a hike today, so I opted for some stretchy pants, a tank top, and a jacket.

I get changed in no time, dreading the interrogation ahead. The girls will surely pull me aside and grill me for information from the moment we come down.

TJ’s hand finds mine not even a second after we’ve ambled out of my bedroom, and he intertwines our fingers before leading the way down the stairs and toward the kitchen.

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