Page 78 of Give Me Forever

Once we washed away the soap, I turned off the water.

"I like seeing you like this," I said. "Relaxed in the shower after you've just used my shampoo. You smell like me. I don’t want this to stop."

I noticed her swallowing hard. Her eyes were vulnerable.

My whole body seemed to freeze in the time it took her to look from her hands up to me. “I don't want this to stop either, but what if we don't work out again?”

I wrapped my hand in her wet hair, looking her straight in the eyes.

"Avery, we're not the same people we were back then. We're not kids anymore. This is different. We're adults. We’re independent. We can make our own choices. We can choose each other."

"Alana will be happy to know that you really do say all the right things all the time."

I laughed, letting go, and we both stepped out. "Alana knows a lot of stuff about us, huh?"

"I need to run what's happening in my life by someone. I've missed having a best friend who knows me inside out."

"As long as Alana is in my corner, I'm all for it."

She wrapped a huge towel around herself. It swallowed her whole. "I can get you a smaller one," I said.

"Oh no, I like this. It's super cozy. It's almost like having on a robe. So, back to Alana," she said as she grabbed another towel and dried her hair with it. "What would you do if she wasn’t on your side?"

"Win her over," I said instantly.

"You say that like you'd have no trouble doing it."

I winked at her. "I have good skills when it comes to making people like me."

"Does that mean you would ply her with food as well?"

I leaned into her. "No, Avery. That was just for you. I don't do that for anyone else."

She licked her lips, flashing me a smile. It was unrestrained, innocent, and simply happy, and I’d put it there.

Mission accomplished.

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