Page 113 of The ABCs of You & Me

“I think it’s a winner.” Karl laughs.

“It’s really good, Mom,” Sophie agrees after composing herself.

Nancy nods along to our praise and writes some things in her notebook, smiling the whole time.

When we’re all stuffed to the gills, I convince the Hores to go hang out in the living room and I’ll pack things up and do the dishes. I want them to be able to continue whatever I walked into earlier. By the time Nancy and Karl leave, I’m confident things are in a better place than they had been when I’d gotten here.

“So, I have a date planned for tonight,” Sophie says while we plant the seedlings her parents brought.

“Sex?” I ask, smirking over at her.

“Maybe after.” She flicks dirt at me. Knowing that I may get to sleep with this woman again has me smiling like a fool.

I brush my hands together, cleaning as much dirt off as possible before reaching for her. “What do you have planned for tonight, my love?”

She looks at my lips as she mouths “my love,” a massive smile spreading, lighting up the shaded backyard.

“Stargazing,” she says as her eyes flick to mine.

“Romantic,” I murmur, slipping my hand around her neck and bringing her in for a kiss. “God, I love kissing you.”

“Mmmm,” she hums, pulling me back in.

Above us are stars, somewhere. There are unfortunately layers of clouds between us and those twinkly lights. Before us is an array of munchies, including a full fruit tray.

“I hope you still like ketchup chips,” Sophie says as she pulls a bag out of the actual picnic basket she has packed.

“Sure do.” I take the bag and open it, the smell hitting me immediately. “Cass used to send these to Korea for me. I got at least eight people hooked, which means I’ve spent a fortune on sending ketchup chips around the world.”

“You’re practically an ambassador. They should put you on the bag.”

“Not sure that would be a big selling feature,” I scoff, pulling out a couple chips and popping them in my mouth.

“I’d buy a bag with your face on it,” she says thoughtfully. “Plus with the red hair, you’d be a perfect ketchup chip ambassador.”

“Well then, I guess we need to reach out to Lays and see if we can make this happen.”

“Who should I be an ambassador for?” she asks, flipping her hair over her shoulder and looking at me sweetly.Every fantasy I’ve ever had and will ever have?

“Hmmm.” I study her, getting closer and dropping a kiss on her jaw then her nose. “Something sweet.” Another kiss. “Something mouth-watering,.” A longer kiss. “Something completely unforgettable.” She giggles as I wrap my arms around her and pull her on top of me. Stars are great and all, but I’d much rather gaze at Sophie. I’d rather do everything involving Sophie.

“We’re going to miss the stars,” she murmurs against my lips but doesn’t pull away.

“They’ll be there tomorrow, and the day after that, and so on,” I move my lips to her neck and soak in her little sigh of contentment.

“That’s a good point,” she says, sliding her hands into my hair and holding me still as her lips trail along my jaw and down my neck.

I breathe deeply, willing my body to behave, which is taking an astronomical amount of effort, seeing how Sophie’s body is on top of mine.

In the end we never saw any stars—not in the sky, anyway.

FIFTY

SOPHIE

Maya and Davis are putting us to shame as they move around the dance floor with a fluidity I can barely imagine let alone accomplish. I’ve stepped on Foster’s foot no fewer than six times, and his hand is so sweaty it’s almost impossible to maintain our grip. How I thought I’d do better with the tango than I had with line dancing is beyond me. I blame Foster and his damn enthusiasm.

“Maybe don’t pick a tango for your first dance,” Maya leans over and whispers while we watch the instructors demonstrate the next set of moves.

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