Page 52 of No More Love Songs

“They know,” he says, leaning in to kiss my cheek as I take the mug from him.

“Oh?” Great. Now I have more questions. Like, what exactly do they know? And do I want to know what they know? Do they know more about our relationship than I do? Is it considered a relationship? My restraint is in much better shape this go around though, and I manage to use my open mouth only to sip coffee.

Which is delicious. “So good,” I whisper, going in for another long sip.

“Whoa,” Rat whispers behind me, and I have to assume she found an exceptional amount of chocolate in her most recent bite of pancake. “She’s allowed to drink out of the mug?”

I glance down at the mug in my hands, then up at Kit who looks like she struck a nerve and he’s trying to cover it.

“Should I not be using this mug? Is it special? Oh, my God. Is this a sacred heirloom or something and I’ve been using it like an idiot this whole time?”

He chuckles, but not before shooting the girls a dirty look. “You’re fine. It’s just a mug.” He must realize that there’s no way I’m buying that, because he goes on to say, “it just so happens that’s the mug I usually use.”

“Oh.” I still feel bad. “You should have said something! Do you wanna switch?”

He makes a face. “The way you take your coffee? No, thanks.”

I twitch my nose back and forth, trying to brush off the insult on my coffee preferences. “Okay, well, after today, I promise I’ll leave it on the rack for you. I’ll find a different mug I like. It’s not like you don’t have plenty to choose from.” I’m not even sure why I went for this one. It just caught my eye, and then it was the perfect size, perfect shape. And I don’t know, I just really liked drinking out of it. And then, somehow, it just felt like mine.

“No.” He runs the fingers of his free hand through my belt loop and draws me near. “That mug is yours to use as long as you like.” He holds up the blue one in his other hand. “I’m actually growing pretty fond of trying all the other ones. Might just find a new favorite.”

Ari snorts.

Rat makes a sound like she’s choking on her pancakes. She clears her throat. “Can we go back to that part where I said ‘This is huge’ and you were all like, ‘It’s not huge’. Because I think maybe you answered wrong.”

Kit looks past me and glares at them. “Nope.” He sets down his mug to gesture at them. “I think maybe you two ought to take your food upstairs and start getting ready. This day is half over already and you two still want to go into town.”

The girls don’t argue. They don’t say anything at all. At least not until they leave the kitchen. After that their excited chatter and giggling can be heard until they make it to Ari’s room and close the door.

“What was that about?” I ask now that it’s just the two of us again.

“Teenage girls.” He rolls his eyes. “I think the idea of seeing me with someone is blowing their minds a little. Making them a little extra nuts.”

“I don’t buy it.” I narrow my eyes to study him. “I think there’s more to it.” Then I dial back the skeptical glare and lift up on my toes to kiss him instead. “But I get that you don’t want to tell me. So, I’m going to shut up about it and just enjoy my coffee.”

“Wanna enjoy it out on the porch swing?”

“I wanna enjoy it wherever you are.” It’s cheesy but true. I’m starting to think I could enjoy just about anything if it came with Kit’s company.

“Come on.” He winks as he takes my hand and leads me outside through the back door. “There’s a swing back behind the corner of the lodge. No one’s ever out there.”

“Why do I suddenly feel like the corner of the lodge is a dark back road and the swing the backseat of your truck?”

He turns back to look at me over his shoulder, a wicked smirk resting on his lips. “Because you have a dirty mind.”

With him? Definitely possible. “So, you’re not taking me to this secluded swing to make out?”

“Oh, no, I absolutely am.”

And just like that, the flutter in my stomach I’ve been trying to ignore, roars to life again.

––––––––

KIT

––––––––

After making out liketeenagers for what arguably was not long enough, we force ourselves to act like grownups and head back inside to take the actual teenagers into town.

---