Page 87 of Never Kiss Your Neighbors

I smile as she throws a ball for the dog, and then ends up running after it herself. “Hard to say.”

“Chicken nugget?” Wyatt suggests. “Maybe marshmallow.”

I wrap my hand around his arm and lean into his shoulder. “That’s what I’d name her, if it were up to me.”

“How about Miss Scarlet?” Cam suggests in his Southern drawl.

We’re already holding hands, and I give his a squeeze. “She does love those Clue characters. Oh, that reminds me of Halloween.”

During the season, Cam and Wyatt took us to Disneyland again, just as they had suggested during our first visit. We went to a costume party there, and it was Jessie’s wild idea that we dress as Clue characters.

Cam and Wyatt took the lead, putting together the most amazing and creative costumes for all of us, with Cam in a mustard-colored military suit, Wyatt looking like an academic in shades of purple, me in a beautiful dress adorned with peacock feathers, and Jessie as a miniature Miss Scarlet, in a red dress with satin gloves and a red boa.

“That was a lot of fun,” Wyatt says, laughing.

After all this time, the men still haven’t stopped giving me new and fun experiences. Just when I think they’ll surely run out of ideas, they introduce me to a new food, a new place to go, and most fun of all, new toys for the bedroom.

Not too long ago, on a day when Jessie was at school, Cam and Wyatt took advantage of our alone time by setting me up with remote-controlled vibrating underwear! I still get hot every time I think about it.

When they promise, or even suggest, that they’re going to do something, they do it. We’ve gone out to play other escape rooms, with and without Jessie, and they’ve taken both of us out for teppanyaki, which Jessie loves, too.

When we got together, they promised they’d make sure I know every day that they want me and only me, and they show it with gestures both big and small.

There are special looks we share, thoughtful gifts they give me like flowers, and things they do to let me know they’re thinking of me, like making coffee for me in the early afternoon, so that I’ll have energy for the rest of the day. Lately, I need that extra energy boost, especially since our oversized custom-made bed was delivered.

The best thing I ever did was take a chance on them, and I only hope I can spend the rest of my life trying to show them as much love as they show me.

Cam

“Cam and Wyatt, can the puppy be in some of your videos?” Jessie asks, the next time she leads a lap around the yard.

“Hmm …maybe. If you think she should be,” Wyatt says.

“I do! People are going to love her!” Jessie spins in a circle, arms spread wide, and the pup barks at her with an adorable little puppy bark.

It’s not the first brilliant idea Jessie’s had. At first, she liked to watch us build things from a distance. Gradually, she started hanging out right next to us, asking questions and then offering suggestions, and we’ve produced some really fun content as a result of her input.

Now, she helps us make things, too, always behind the scenes, but our viewers know we have a special assistant known only as J. We protect Stella and Jessie’s privacy above all. Our viewers don’t know where our new house is, and we’re hoping to keep it that way.

Our transition to children’s entertainment couldn’t have gone better. We lost some followers, and there were some rough patches along the way, but with guidance from the consultant and after getting involved in some special events, the channel’s now bigger than ever before.

With Jessie often helping us, Stella’s had more time available to focus on her college courses, and because of her continuing education and her great work, she’s being considered for a promotion at Community Bean. If she gets the job, she’ll still be working from home, but she may have to go into the office once a week; and that’s fine, because Wyatt and I are available to chauffeur Jessie anytime.

We’ll support Stella in any type of job she chooses, or no job at all, but selfishly, I’m glad she works from home, because we make use ofquickspare moments to enjoy grownup private time whenever we can.

Living with her—waking up next to her and going to bed with her at night—has taught me that I’ll never get enough of Stella’s body.

I’ve also learned that it’s possible to love someone more and more every day.

Wyatt

The sight of a child and a dog has never done something to my heart like it’s doing right now. I’ve always enjoyed watching Jessie and Goldfish play together, but seeing this little pup looking at Jessie like she’s her world, and knowing Jessie’s going to have so much fun with the new pup, well, it has me feeling things I can hardly name.

Jessie doesn’t call us dad, because she already has a dad, and because we’re not married to Stella, though I hope someday that will change. Nevertheless, I love her like a father, and I always will.

Cam and I met her father, Brandon, on one of his visits last year, and we even helped him when he moved into a house across town. He’s never going to be a good buddy, but he was a decent enough dude, and I appreciated that he didn’t seem to harbor any ill will toward Cam and me.

His play to get Stella back last year seemed half-hearted at best, and he assured us it’s a thing of the past. Poor guy. His loss, our immeasurable gain.

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