Page 70 of Sometimes You Stay

Her face twisted into a silly grin. “Very well, then. What should I call you when I post this video?”

“You’re not really going to—”

“What should I call you?” Her tone sounded an awful lot like a teacher’s. Like Marie’s when she’d had to correct Julia Mae one too many times.

“Your followers don’t care about me. They want to see you and Abner.”

“All right, Farmer Finn it is.”

“I’m a business owner. A dog breeder. An adopter of strays.” He spat the words out as fast as he could. Anything but Farmer Finn.

“I’ll see what I can do, but you may have missed your window of opportunity.” Her eyes twinkled and her cheeks twitched as she bit her lips until they nearly disappeared. “We’ll see what the council says.”

“The council?”

She shrugged, putting on a facade of boredom.

“And who exactly is on this council that decides my online persona?”

“Me and Roberta.”

There wasn’t a dam in the world that could have held back his snorted laugh, and he grabbed her sides, tickling mercilessly as he pulled her to his chest. She screamed and squirmed and fought him with laughter-limp arms.

“Take it back. Roberta would never betray me!”

“I will not. I thi-think she’s warm-warming up to me.” Asher giggles cut off her words, he spun her in his arms. She ended up pressed against his chest, breathing heavily, and smiling into his face. Just where he wanted her. Just how he wanted her.

Longing slammed through him, an unwelcome visitor. Holding her hands at his chest, he sucked in a deep breath. Every one of his noble intentions lined up to march right out the door.

One more kiss couldn’t hurt. It wouldn’t really change anything. They both knew that atheycould never last. They also knew how sweet it could be between them. Another kiss would just...

It’s not an option.

He’d chant those words over and over again until he believed them. For her sake. For her heart.

He would regret kissing her again. And he would regret not kissing her.

He’d be miserable no matter what. But maybe he’d be a little less so if he knew that he’d done his best to show her just how much he cared.

Strange that not kissing her was the way to do that.

With a half smile, he let go of her hands and stepped back.

“Giving up, I see,” she goaded him. “I’ll confer with Roberta and let you know our decision later.”

Jabbing his fingers through his hair, he said, “You’re ridiculous.”

“And?”

“And it’s no wonder that three million people watch your videos.”

“And now three million people are going to watch you.”

She was like Joe with a bone. “How many times do I have to tell you that they want to see Abner?”

“They?” Her forehead wrinkled at the same time she lifted her phone to block the rest of her face. “They include a bunch of twenty- and thirty-something women, who would be just as happy to adopt Farmer Finn as they would Abner.”

“Ridiculous.”

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