Page 65 of Too Little Too Soon
“I fell in love with you, Ava. Hell, I think I was halfway there when I convinced myself to try Mitch’s tactic. But I wasn’t far enough along to convince myself to be honest with you, and I’m sorry.”
“Did you just tell me you love me?” Her heartrate suddenly doubled as she stared at him with wide eyes.
“I did. I do. I know there’s not a chance in hell you’ll take me back, but I still wanted you to know—”
“Stop talking,” she demanded.
He snapped his mouth shut.
“Come over here and kiss me.”
His eyebrows shot up on his forehead. “Are you sure?”
She placed her glass on the counter and closed her eyes. “Don’t ask me that. Just kiss me.”
“Ava, I—”
She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him toward her. Their lips practically crashed together, and he wrapped his arms around her and canted his head, licking his way into her mouth, his hands sliding down to cup her backside, grinding her against him.
They didn’t make it to the bedroom. He lifted her onto the counter and introduced her to kitchen sex, and Ava knew, without a doubt, that she’d made the right choice by listening to her heart.
Epilogue
June
The Desert Rocks Music Festival
Phoenix, Arizona
Ava gavea startled shriek as something cold and wet pressed against the back of her neck. She whipped around in her seat to see Travis standing behind her, grinning, holding a sweating bottle of water in his hand.
“Oh God, thank you,” she said, greedily snatching the water and guzzling it.
“You are crazy, for the record,” she said after she caught her breath. “This heat sucks. Give me winter anytime.”
He chuckled. “Now that you have your buy-out from Demetri and you’ve given up your apartment in New York, we need to get serious about choosing a place to live. Which should be fun, considering I hate winter and you hate the heat.”
“There are lots of moderate options, you know. Maybe we should move to the Ozarks, like Sam and Holly. Lacey and Parker are now talking about it too. And Maria told me she and Oz have been looking at real estate listings.”
He bent at the waist and kissed her cheek. “All the sisters together in one place. I’m sure that won’t be crazy at all.”
She laughed. “Imagine it when we add more babies to the mix.”
His eyes went huge as they dropped to her midsection. “Seriously? You want to have kids? With me?”
She felt her cheeks warm, even more than they already were with this oppressive heat. “I’m not ready right this second, but yes, Travis. Whatever happens down the road, in my future, I can’t imagine doing it with anyone but you.”
He kissed her again. “I love you, sugar. I am all in. Anything you want. Anywhere you want to live. I’ll be happy, as long as I’m with you.”
“No wonder you’re a musician. Everything you say sounds like a song lyric.” She smiled. He was also so freaking romantic. And she knew it was real. All of it. Every little insanely romantic thing he did and said.
“Hi.”
Ava turned around, prepared to help a customer at Demigoddess Revival’s merch table. Her job was supposed to be offloading the band’s various sweatshirts and T-shirts and bumper stickers, not flirt with her boyfriend.
She came face-to-face with Travis’s stalker. Without even thinking about it, she grasped Travis’s hand. He needed her support right now.
“Uh, hello,” Ava said cautiously.
