Page 109 of Where We Belong

They then proceed to pass the phone from one person to the next, each of their congratulations making the knot in my throat tighten. I didn’t know it was possible for one person to feel this loved.

When Shelli gets her turn, she says, “I’m rarely speechless, but that’s what you made me today. I really wish I could’ve been there. Your hard work paid off.” She grins. “When you get back, let’s talk about getting you a proper coach before the Games’ trials, yes?”

“Sounds good. And thank you, Shelli. For everything.” I hope she can hear all the gratitude I hold for her. If it wasn’t for her help, I’d be nowhere today.

“All right, everyone,” Finn says as he takes his phone back. “I’m hanging up now because I want my girl all to myself.”

My cheeks warm, especially when no one on the call seems surprised, save for Lilianne’s “whoop” in the back. Were we that obvious?

I guess we were.

“Congratulations again, Lexie,” Aaron says, his face now the only one in view. Then, he leans even closer and whispers into the phone, “And thank you for making my friend so damn happy.”

Finn doesn’t appear the least bit embarrassed, and I think I might love him even more for it.

“Trust me,” I say, my cheeks hurting, “the pleasure’s all mine.”

Once Finn has said his final goodbye, he ends the call and pulls me closer so I’m sitting in his lap. As I wrap my arms around his neck, I say, “Your girl, huh?”

“Damn right you are.” His bright greens soften. “I think you might always have been.”

“Even when you were creeping me out?”

“Even then, darling.”

I hug him tighter, and now that I’m closer, I notice a new patch of hair loss I hadn’t seen before, right at his nape. Tapping it, I say, “Stressful week?”

“Yeah.”

I lean forward and kiss the spot. “Sorry.”

“It was all worth it.” He brushes a strand of hair away from my forehead. “And there’s someone else we need to call, but before that, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

I lift a brow.

“I know you don’t like Josie staying in Arizona, so I was thinking maybe you could ask her if she’d want to come stay with us for a while? You know, since we’re settling.” Color rises to his cheeks. “I’d be there to help, and we have people around. We could get a bigger place. Maybe she could at least visit the schools around, see if she likes—”

I stop him in his tracks by kissing the words out of his mouth. When I pull back, I say, “Have I told you how much I love you?”

“Yes, but I’m not against hearing it some more.”

I kiss him once more, but just as it deepens, I pull back with my eyes narrowed and say, “Did you just sneakily ask me to move in with you?”

“Hoped you wouldn’t notice.” He shrugs. “But it’s not like you have much of a choice, Crabby. I’m not spending one more night without you, and I’m not above kidnapping.”

I laugh. “I don’t think you’ll need to.”

We spend the following twenty minutes talking with Josie over the phone and making her the offer. As I’d expected, she says yes in a heartbeat, but I still tell her to take a few days to think about it and be sure it’s what she truly wants. I’m pretty sure that’s what she’ll decide anyway, but it doesn’t hurt to give her some time. I’ll call my mother tomorrow to introduce the idea, but my guess is she won’t put up too much of a fight.

When we hang up, I let myself fall back onto the pillows, completely spent yet buzzing with energy.

“This whole day’s felt like a dream,” I say.

“I know,” Finn says, tucking me under his arm and kissing my forehead. “And it’s just the beginning.”

I sigh, both in exhaustion and happiness. “It is.”

“So what’s next?” he asks like he did yesterday, but this time, the answer comes easily.

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