Page 144 of Forever After All

“I miss her when she’s not home,” Linc said. “She still disappears behind the curtains when I wave.”

Jess pulled out her keys and unlocked the door. “Stop pestering that old woman. We probably scarred her for life after the Ryan incident.”

She tossed her keys on the table by the door and sighed. Home at last.

Linc wrapped his arm around her waist and twirled her around, whipping her hair out in a wide fan.

“Hey–”

He cut her off with his mouth against hers. The kiss started off slow and guarded, then poured out in a rush. His breath was hot against her lips as he sipped and drank everything from her.

When she pulled away gasping for air, he trickled soft, tame kisses onto her cheeks.

“I have been dying to kiss you. All day. It’s torture, really,” he said against her jaw.

“We sound like one of the other sappy couples,” she joked.

Linc lifted his head. “Ridge is the worst.”

“I know! So surprising that the burly football player is a total sap.”

“Your voice is my favorite song,” Linc mocked in a deeper tone.

Jess covered her mouth to stifle the laugh. “Thea is just as bad. I think I heard her tell Brett she missed him even when he was right beside her the other day.”

Linc’s hearty laugh burst through the air. They might be joking, but she knew exactly what drove her friends to say and do such ridiculous things. Love had been having its way with her for weeks now, molding her into a different person. A better version of her old self.

Linc’s rough hand slid up her neck and into the hair at the nape. His gentle pull coaxed her to tilt her head back as he trailed soft kisses up the sensitive skin of her neck.

His warm breath brushed against her ear, sending a tingling down her spine. “You know what I want?”

Oh, wow. That was one way to make her heart stop. “What?” she whispered back.

“I want…a grilled cheese sandwich.”

All of the air in Jess’s lungs left in one swift whoosh as she doubled over in laughter.

“With tomato soup,” Linc added.

Jess wiped tears from the corners of her eyes as the laughter faded. “I love you. So much.”

The open smile on Linc’s face changed into a guarded grin. “Really?”

“Yeah, really. Haven’t I said it enough? I’m crazy about you. Your horse and hay smell makes me happy. I even love you when you mumble while you work.”

“I don’t do that.”

“You most certainly do.” She propped her hands on her hips. “But anyway, that’s about the sappiest love confession I can think of, but it’s true.”

Linc stuck his hand into his shirt pocket and pulled something tiny out.

It was two tiny somethings. Rings.

“What’s that?” she spat before thinking.

Linc knelt in front of her and held up the two rings. “Jess–”

“Why are there two?” she asked, impolitely cutting him off, but she didn’t care.

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