Page 159 of Take My Love

“Why’re you starin’?” he drawls without looking at me.

“’Cause you’re mine and I can.”

He digs his fingers deeper into my leg. “Keep givin’ me those eyes and we aren’t gonna make it to the hotel on time.”

“Off-road backseat truck sex? Oh no, not that…” I say sarcastically.

He chuckles and brings my hand to his mouth, kissing sweetly over my knuckles while staying focused on the road.

We’re headed to Sugarland Creek for my cousin Wilder’s vows ceremony, but we’re also utilizing the weekend as a long awaited couple’s getaway.

The last time we had a vacation was when we went to Charleston for our honeymoon last summer. I wanted to see thebeaches and shop. It was so charming and relaxing after a stressful year of wedding planning.

We utilized the Willow Chalet as our venue, which made things a bit easier. But since I was the first daughter to get married and Silas’s the baby of his family and the last to get hitched, everyone had an opinion about everything and kept suggesting new ideas.

It was worth it, though, because at the end of the day, I married the love of my life. Warren got to be his best man and Bellamy was my maid of honor.

Letting her be in charge of my bachelorette party is how we ended up drunk off our asses in Nashville, singing bar karaoke, and riding a mechanical bull until we face-planted on the mats.

The seven of us—Mom, Aunt JoJo, Maisie, Amaya, Jamie, Bellamy, and me—had to call Warren, Dad, and Silas to come pick us up because none of us were able to drive home the next day.

But we had a blast.

Totally worth the hangover.

It’s still hard to believe it’s been almost two years since he proposed and that we’ll be celebrating our first wedding anniversary this summer.

Time goes fast when you’re living your best life with your soulmate.

After our honeymoon, we started on the cabin expansion project since the childcare center finished early and opened sooner than anticipated. Dad was so impressed with how Silas managed it and even gave him a five-figure bonus.

I was so proud of him, I gave him a little bonus of my own—a surprise clit piercing—and although we had to refrainfrom sex for six weeks, we found other ways to pleasure each other.

Since my cabin has plenty of land around it, we added two more bedrooms, another bathroom, and expanded the kitchen for more space.

Marjorie hated every second of it.

Silas’s tools and supplies constantly went missing.

Every time he plugged in something, it’d randomly turn off in the middle of using it.

He had to plead with her to knock it off.

She finally did when he leftGolden Girlsplaying on the TV for hours at a time. And then I kept her calm with a lavender and eucalyptus candle—her favorite scents.

Teddy and Bear had to stay at Uncle Warren and Aunt Maisie’s for a while since the noise was too much for them. But after a few weeks, Warren got annoyed with them and threatened to feed them to his chickens if I didn’t come get them.

But after nine long months, it’s finally complete.

Silas worked on it in the evenings and almost every weekend since he wanted to do it himself and only contracted an electrician to make sure he didn’t accidentally kill himself or burn the place down.

I did my part by picking out the furniture and decor. Most of our engagement and wedding photos cover the walls and make me smile every time I walk past them.

We moved our bedroom into the new master suite, so now there’s plenty of space for the rat cage. But Silas makes me put a blanket over it when we’re having sex.

I told him they can still hear us, but whatever gets him naked and inside me.

Teddy the third and Bear the second got a new sibling that we named Winnie who arrived on Valentine’s Day a couple months ago.