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“Very sure. I’ve wanted to since that night at the Christmas party.”
With a smile, I pulled away from his grip and cupped his face before pulling him into a searing kiss.
Everything was right in the world.
I had Alden and I finally knew everything.
“Wait,” he said, pulling away far too soon. “We still need to talk about everything that happened.”
“We do. But I couldn’t let you walk away without you knowing I feel the same way.”
“You do?”
“I always have. I’ve had a crush on you since I was a kid. I thought I wasn’t good enough for you.”
“You’re more than good enough for me.”
“I finally believe it,” I said.
His eyes fell to my lips, and I thought he would kiss me again, but he pulled away.
“Where are you going?”
“To make you something. We’ll need a drink if we’re about to rehash everything we just opened up.”
EIGHTEEN
“So,what kind of drink are you making?” Stella followed me to the kitchen. “Amma only has moonshine, and I doubt she’d want to share. Or that I’d even want that paint thinner in my body.”
“I don’t know how she drinks that stuff.” I shook my head. “And no, I didn’t meanthatkind of drink. What are the odds that Amma has evaporated milk?”
“For what?”
“Hot chocolate. I have a recipe.”
“And it uses evaporated milk?”
“No, but I can make it work. Whatever actual milk was here went bad a few days ago.”
She walked to the cabinet with the food, pulling out a can. “High, I guess. Thank God for her always overbuying at the store.”
I took the can and grabbed a pot.
“I thought you didn’t cook.”
“I don’t, but whenever I would think too hard about the past, I would experiment with hot chocolate.”
“Why?”
“It’s your favorite. It made me feel connected to you.”
Her lips went slack before curving into a full smile. “That’s really sweet, actually.”
“Not with the context, but I’m happy it’s coming in handy now.” I stirred the pot and waited for the milk to warm. I added cocoa powder and sugar before tasting it myself to be sure it was close to what I usually made. “It’s not perfect.”
“Oh, come on. I still want it. This can’t be worse than Reed’s.”
I laughed. “If it is, you have permission to dump me.”