Page 26 of Give Me Forever

I felt like she'd smacked me right in the face. For the first time, the implication of living with her fully hit me. What if she brought a dude home and took him into her room? I’d go insane.

Absolutely not. I wanted to make it a code of conduct that she wasn't allowed to bring a man home ever. Not even once.

Logically, I knew I was being absurd. What did that even say about me?

She smirked. "Oh, you like to give but not get, huh? You forget, I have just as much sass as you. That hasn’t changed from high school."

"Good to know. I always loved that about you."

She pointed at me, but I shook my head. "You brought it up first.”

“I didn't." Closing her eyes, she shrugged. "Fine. I hinted at it. My bad. Won't happen again."

“This is going to be fun," I said.

"Oh yeah?" she murmured.

We'd only officially moved in together a few minutes ago, and we were already verbally sparring. I liked where this was going.

"Okay, so since we settled that, how about I take you out to dinner?" I asked her.

"I’d take you up on it, but I'd have to change, and I have no energy for that. How about we order something in and christen this place?" she asked and then covered her mouth. I started to laugh and couldn’t stop. "I did not mean that as a double entendre."

I put a hand on the kitchen counter, close to her waist. "You didn't? Are you sure? Not even a little bit?"

She groaned, lowering her head. "I’m not sure what's happening to my brain right now."

"I don't know either, but I like it," I admitted. I was close enough again to smell her perfume. For my own sanity, I took a huge step back.

She pulled out her phone, licking her lips. Her fingers trembled slightly as she brought up a food ordering app.

"What are we in the mood for?" she asked.

"Pizza?"

"Yeah, let's do that."

I didn't care. I was more eager about the christening part.

“I have drinks," I said.

She snapped her head up. "You went shopping?"

"Nah. Courtesy of Tate."

"Oh, that's right. I forgot. Maxwell Wines. I love them so much."

"Which one's your favorite?" I asked, heading to the box my brother had deposited on the kitchen counter.

"The chardonnay."

"I've got one of those."

"Perfect. I take it as a good omen," she said as I rose to my feet, putting the bottle on the counter.

"For what?" I asked.

She hesitated before answering. "Starting over." She took two glasses from the cabinet as I opened the bottle. While I poured our wine, she ordered pizza. Then we clinked glasses.

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