Page 30 of The 7 Rules of Moving On
Dawn was already snoring before Kissie closed the door, but her words had hit their mark. She hadn’t been herself, probably not for a long time. After kissing Trig in the pool, she felt like herself again. She felt bright. Happy.
It was so brief—the temptation to find Trig in his room and make out with him for the rest of the night—as to almost be non-existent. Even though it lasted so long she had to make herself come alone in her bed twice before she could ignore the temptation enough to finally get some sleep.
TRIG
“It’s important,” Trig said, interlacing his fingers through Kissie’s and leading her down the hill from Mystic into town. It was a nice night, no wind, not too cold, everything covered in fluffy white snow. “Knowing the town of Twin Hearts is integral in knowing how Mystic fits here and nowhere else.”
This wasn’t a lie, necessarily. An exaggeration, at worst. But if he was being completely honest, he wanted her to see how charming his town could be, especially around Valentine’s Day. He wasn’t so naïve to think he could convince her to do something bananas like move up here, but after that kiss, he’d try just about anything to sway her in that direction.
“Whoa!” Kissie exclaimed when they rounded the corner to Main street. “The trees!”
The way the pink and red twinkly lights strung throughout the trees in town sparkled in her eyes made him want to grab her around her waist, dip her deeply, and kiss her senseless.
“Pretty great, huh?”
Pulling out her phone, she snapped several pictures. “Do they do this every year?”
“Every single February. With a name like Twin Hearts, we have no other choice but to show up for Valentine’s Day.”
Pointing across the street, she said, “Is that Billy’s bakery?”
“Yep,” he said while she zoomed in and took a picture of the storefront. “Want to go see what he’s got?”
“Hell yes. Sugar is—”
“Health food!” they cheered together.
His smile was so big his cheeks hurt. But when they crossed the street and stepped inside the bakery, Trig bit his lip hard, his regret at bringing her to town almost instant.
“Andrew,” Lane said from his spot at the counter, his polished, pompous voice raising Trig’s hackles. “What a surprise.”
“Lane Montgomery, in the mock-turtlenecked flesh,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Montgomery?” Kissie said beside him. “As in the McDuck Montgomerys?”
“Afraid so.” Trig relaxed a fraction when she squeezed his hand more tightly.
“Jesus,” she whispered when Lane started toward them. “He could crack walnuts with that jaw.”
“More like gnaw on the bones of his enemies,” Trig whispered back, then raised his voice to say, “Lane, I heard you were in town. To what do we owe the pleasure?”
“Oh, you know. Mother and her party.” When he flashed his million-dollar smile at Kissie, Trig almost growled. “Who’s your friend?”
“Kissie Mitchell,” she said, letting go of Trig’s hand only long enough to shake Lane’s firmly.
“Kissie,” he repeated, still smiling. “I love that name.”
“It’s a nickname. Her sister couldn’t say Cassandra,” Trig explained for some reason. “Where’s Tina?”
Lane’s smile faltered for a split second before he refortified. “She’s still in Chicago. We’re not together anymore.”
“You’re single?” Kissie asked.
Trig blinked in her direction.No. No, no, no.
“For about a month now.”
“Me too. Freshly dumped.”
