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“Are you going to bake the cake for your own wedding?”

“No, Lindsay’s definitely doing it. Already cleared the subject with her.”

She laughed, eyes sparkling, before she swatted my arm. “All right, I’ll let you go spend an entire night gawking at your girlfriend. Can’t afford to piss you off since I’m counting on you to climb in the window and scare my mom once she visits again.”

“I know. You’re not scary enough. Catch you later, loser.”

“See you, dork,” she said, as I headed out the door and caught up with Lindsay, who was waiting by the door to my house, looking up from her phone as I approached her.

“You could have gone inside instead of freezing your cute little nose off,” I said.

“It’s forty degrees out. I think I’ll live.” She opened the door, letting me inside, and we didn’t even get our coats off before I crashed into her, kissing her wildly before settling into cuddling softly against her shoulder.

“You know you’re totally unbelievable,” I said. “Finishing your first book in, like, three months?”

“Oh, we’re back on the book…” She looked away. “It’s fine.”

“You’re going to be a big-name star and all the girls will want you.”

“They can try,” she said lightly. “I’ve got the one I want.”

“Oh my god,” I said, swatting her. “Stop! You’ll make me squeal and it’ll be embarrassing for us both.”

She laughed, catching me and pressing a kiss to my lips before she tugged me towards the stairs. “Hey, I love you. Let me be mushy sometimes.”

I went with her up the stairs and out to the balcony, leaning against her side as we both sank against the railing. “Fine,” I mumbled, finally. “Not like I don’tlikeit when you’re mushy.”

She kissed my forehead, and I think the only thing I could have ever wanted in the world was for her to do it again. “Then I’ll keep going,” she said. “I love you.”

“Mm. I love you too, pretty girl.”

“And I’m glad you found me.” She looked down, her expression softening. “Really… really found me.”

I closed my eyes, resting against her shoulder. “I like seeing your smile.Yoursmile.”

“Oh, now who’s mushy?”

“Signs point to me.” I nuzzled my face against her shoulder. “You know… I think she’d be proud to see you’ve done all this.”

“Mm.” She folded her arms on the railing, leaning forwards. “I think so. But I think more about someone else these days.”

I sighed, softly, just letting myself melt into her and into this moment—the two of us, and the taste of the Bayview breeze slightly salty in the air, promising rain before too long. Far off down the street below, I could still see Annabel’s and Priscilla’s silhouettes disappearing down the road, and the sound of Aria and Emberlynn laughing together about something from the house next door filled the air with something soft.

Funny little family we had out here. I liked it, though.

The End