Page 41

MARLOW

For the first time since I met her, I seriously regret befriending Abby. For all of her grace and fortitude, this woman cannot keep it together for a friendly game of Bingo with a group of senior citizens.

The first time she won, Abby shrieked like she was the star of a bad horror movie. Now that she’s on her third consecutive win of the night, she has decided that it’s an appropriate time to wrestle the microphone away from the host and make an Oscar-worthy acceptance speech.

“I’d like to thank my husband,” she announces, motioning to the man on my left.

Hunter looks like he’s sizing up the table, trying to determine whether he could disappear underneath it.

His sister Harlie is in town, sitting beside him with an amused smile on her face.

Across the table, Emmett and Bonnie are too caught up in their own little bubble to notice much of anything going on around them. She’s half-laughing, half-blushing over something Emmett said loud enough for only her to hear.

Even Jack agreed to come with us tonight. God only knows why.

“Oh, and I would like to thank Percy…” Abby rambles on from the stage.

“Who is Percy?” Ryan leans over my lap to ask Hunter.

“Her childhood dog,” Hunter groans in reply.

Ryan’s chest heaves with laughter as her wraps his arms around me and presses a kiss to my hair.

“Think they’ll ever let us back in here after tonight?” he asks.

“Absolutely fucking not,” Hunter says. Despite his attempts to look annoyed, I see the hint of a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth.

“Maybe next time we can find a Bingo night that doesn’t serve wine,” I laugh.

Not that I blame her. This is Abby’s first night out since Emma was born six months ago.

Abby finally relinquishes control of the microphone to the host, who thankfully, is laughing it off pretty well. When she stumbles over a chair, Hunter is on his feet, ready to catch her. With a hand firmly on her waist, he guides her back over to our table.

“Think we should probably call it a night,” Hunter announces to the table.

Everyone else agrees and stands to leave.

We make our way out to the dark parking lot and pair off to head to our vehicles. Abby is practically mauling Hunter as they make their way to his truck, but it’s Jack who catches my attention.

“Why is Jack leaving with Hunter’s sister?” I ask Ryan as he starts the car.

He glances over at them and shrugs. “I guess she’s staying in his guest house for a little while.”

A few minutes later, we pull up to Ryan’s house, which has recently become our house.

I loved my little apartment over the bakery, but the lease was ending, and we were both ready to take the next step.

My only condition was that we still visit Olga and her cinnamon rolls once a week.

And Olga has already agreed to let us rent the apartment for a weekend next month when my mom comes to visit.

As we make our way inside the dark house, soft fur rubs against my ankles.

A demanding meow echoes through the kitchen, and Ryan is already flipping on the light and pouring some treats into the small bowl in the corner of the room.

I never expected Ryan to agree to getting a cat, much less doting on one, but I certainly can’t complain.

“What’s this?” I ask, running my finger across a string of glitter on our kitchen counter.

Ryan glances up at me and laughs. “Linda’s kids made that for you.”

It’s a piece of pink construction paper, folded in half with chaotic lines of glue steeped in thick pieces of colorful glitter. I think it’s supposed to be a tree…or a cloud…or maybe a dog, but it’s adorable regardless.

“Those kids and their glitter,” I say, shaking my head.

Yes, after a year of dating Ryan, I finally know the truth about the glitter prank that started it all. And I wouldn’t change a thing.

Ryan walks over to me with a smile tugging at his lips. He cages me in against the countertop, lifting me to sit on top of it and spreading my thighs to wrap around his.

“So, no glitter at our wedding then?” he asks as he brushes a strand of hair back from my face.

“Oh, our wedding?” I laugh. “Don’t you mean my wedding to Gerard Butler?”

Ryan removes his hands from my waist, throwing them up as if to claim defeat and taking a step away from me. “Alright, if that’s what you really want. But you better not come crying to me when Gerard demands to have glitter at his wedding.”

I grab a fistful of Ryan’s t-shirt and pull him back to me, smiling against his lips as he kisses me.

“You know I only want you,” I tell him as he pulls away from my lips. “But do you really think you’ll want to get married one day?”

“Of course I want to get married one day. But, Marlow,” he pauses to smirk, “I hope you’re ready for how soon ‘one day’ might come.”

Ryan cups my jaw in his hands and kisses me again, deeper this time.

I look back to a time when I thought that one night with Ryan would be all I would ever get, and look forward to forever with him, one day at a time.

The End

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