Page 107 of Give Me Forever

"No, I was about to text him and ask."

"Yeah, you do that.”

Avery: What do you mean, whisking me away? When should I be ready? And why does Kimberly know?

Sam: She told you she knows? I'm not telling Kimberly a thing ever again. I'll be home in about an hour.

Avery: What makes you so sure I want to go with you? I mean, you’ve been gone for two days.

Sam: I know, babe. And I plan to make up for every moment I missed, I promise.

I was too excited to play coy, and my stomach was somersaulting. I had a gazillion butterflies in it.

I turned to Kimberly. "Okay, let's go to my room, and I'll show you all my clothes."

Forty minutes later, I looked like a doll. I was wearing a mid-calf red velvet dress. I'd forgotten I even owned it, but Kimberly found it at the back of my closet. She'd done my hair in an interesting style off to the side. The top part was a braid, but it was loose over my shoulder.

"Is this a French look?" I asked, glancing in the mirror and twirling around. "I feel French."

"Let's call it a fusion look. I wouldn't say my hairdos are French, but they're inspired by them."

After Kimberly and I went back in the living room, she checked her phone. "Time for me to disappear."

"Why?" I asked.

"I don't want to be a cockblocker, to quote Travis."

"Well, I mean, you know, I don’t think we’ll..." I stammered. “Travis? What does he know?” Now I was all confused.

She grinned. "Never mind. Whatever you do or don't do is between the two of you. I've done my part. Just don’t cry or you’ll ruin your makeup."

She'd taken her sweet time with that. She blew me an air kiss before disappearing out the door.

I felt like everything was happening too fast for me to process. Had she come here today specifically for this? That couldn't be. Then again, the Maxwell family group worked in mysterious ways. They’d been like this even when we were kids.

Now that I was alone in the enormous loft, I started to get nervous again. What if Sam reiterated that he was staying here for me? How could I express that what I wanted was for him to be happy without him getting the wrong idea again? The butterflies in my belly turned to stone.

A knock at the door took me out of my thoughts, and I went straight toward it. It opened before I got there, and Sam was standing in the doorway, grinning from ear to ear.

"Why did you knock?" I asked as he closed the door behind him.

"I wanted to give you a heads-up."

He was wearing a suit. It was dark blue with a white shirt underneath, and it fit him perfectly.

"Where did you get that suit? All your clothes are here."

"Yeah, but there are plenty of shops in the city, and shopping was faster."

He stepped over to me, taking my hands. I felt warm all of a sudden. He kissed my right hand and then my left one.

"Avery, I'm sorry about the past few days. There have been a lot of flu cases at the hospital, and I had to move a few shifts. And I won't lie. I wasn't sure where to pick up our conversation."

"And now you are?" I asked. My heart was in my throat.

"Hell yes, babe. I know where to start. I love you. I love you with my whole heart, and I can't believe I’m lucky enough to have you."

Yep, I'd started to melt. "I love you too. So much," I murmured.

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