Page 67 of Spreading Her Wings

My heart raced, and I pressed my lips to her temple for a long kiss.Mr. O’Neill. “I love you too.”

The oven timer behind me dinged, interrupting Auston’s lips on my neck and pulling my attention back to the brownies I was baking. I tried to slide my way from the counter, but as I moved, he tightened his hold on my hips. I squealed in protest, the high-pitched whine turning to a moan when he bit into the spot on my neck that met my shoulder.

“You’re going to burn thebrownies!”

He ran his nose along my neck to my jaw, inhaling before he pulled away. I gulped at the way his hazel eyes darkened, narrowing at me at the same time he grinned. “Let. Them. Burn.” The husky growl in his voice made me shiver, a chill racking through my body and ending between my legs. I tried to close my thighs, but the way he stood between them prevented me from doing so.

I swatted at his chest, even as I dropped my head back when he cupped my tit. As the quiet moan left my lips, the latch on the door clicked and it swung open. Auston lifted his brow with amusement when I jumped.

“Were you seriously about to fuck her on the counter? You knew we were coming!” Andy stood in my doorway next to Jules,rolling her eyes in the way that sent her head in a full circle. I shrieked, forcing Auston back and leaping from the counter.

My body collided with theirs, and we grabbed onto each other in a failed attempt to catch our balance. As we tumbled to the floor in our usual heap, Auston laughed and my chest fluttered. He moved to take the brownies from the oven, setting them on top of the stove and turning to watch us. His hazel eyes didn’t have the dark intensity they’d held a minute earlier, but they sparkled with the type of happiness a person could only have when they’re surrounded by the people they love the most.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, not bothering to remove myself from the tangle of arms and legs in my entryway.

Jules and Andy looked at each other, their excitement buzzing. “We wanted to surprise you!” Jules’s excitement burst from her.

“Surprise me? I mean, I’mso happyto see you, but…” I paused and sat up, whipping around to face Auston. “Wait, you knew?”

He stood leaning against the wall, the muscles in his arms fighting against the sleeves of his shirt when he crossed them over his chest. Nodding, he approached us, helping me from the ground and planting his lips against mine. “It was a surprise,” he said, his breath warm on my mouth.

“Okay, definitely going to take a little time getting used to seeing you two kiss.” Andy half chuckled when she said it, but her smile stretched her eyes.

Jules clapped excitedly, unfolding her legs from Andy’s and standing. “I think it’scute!”

My cheeks were warm when I pulled away from Auston, and I stared at him while he hugged Andy and then Jules. He made his way back to my side, and even as he nestled in and wrapped his arm over my shoulders, my eyes were glued to the look on his face.Happy.

“Aren’t you going to offer me one of those brownies?” Jules dropped onto the couch, kicking one leg over the other. She laughed her signature cackling laugh.

“I’m pretty sure they’re burnt.” When Auston said it, he chortled, and I glared in his direction.

“Whose fault is that?” I crossed my arms, trying to be angry and failing when he tilted his head and his red hair fell across his face.

Andy took her spot on the couch, quickly moving to cover her ears. “I’m not listening to this. Nope. I do not want to hear about anything that happened on that counter before we walked in here. That is a hard limit.”

Laughter filled my living room, ringing loudly. I almost dropped the pan of brownies when I turned around to find both of my sisters standing directly behind me. “Shit,” I hissed, startled. “What are you two doing here?”

“We have a surprise,” they said in unison.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Auston watching, even as Andy talked to him about the flight over. I turned towards him and narrowed my eyes, a strong feeling of déjà vu settling over me. “Another surprise, hmm?” I said, my gaze not leaving his.

“Yes.”

“Here.”

Emma shoved a garment bag she must have been holding behind her back into my hands. “What is this?”

“It was Aunt June’s,” Abby said, a melancholy contentedness in her voice.

My throat constricted, and I bounced my head between my sisters, my best friends, and Auston. They all stared at me, wearing identical expressions of expected excitement. What did they know that I didn’t? I looked at the hanger in my hands. “What are—”

Before I could form a question that would clarify why my sisters and best friends were sitting in my living room without telling me, Auston was out of the chair and standing in front of me. He leaned in like he was going to kiss me, but he stopped before my lips and knelt.

Auston settled on one knee in front of me, pulling a box from his pocket. “Kitten, I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and then I want to spend the next one with you too.”

“We’re already married, Auston,” I said, half whispering and half chuckling, looking around us as if it was a secret.

“I know, but I want to promise my life and my heart to you in front of our family and friends. I want to do it sober, and maybe without the guy in the rooster costume.” He took my hand and pulled me closer to him until his arms were hooked behind my thighs and he was looking up at me. “I want to do it today.”

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