I press my lips over her temple. “I like that.”
“What?”
“The idea of always, often,onlywith you.”
“I do too.”
Unfortunately, our time to enjoy the afterglow is interrupted by my phone vibrating with a text message.
“Reality creepin’ in already?” she asks, her lips twitching.
“Unfortunately,” I sigh. “But don’t worry, I’ll get us back here at the first available opportunity.”
She cocks her head and arches a brow. “Just the first?”
“Every,” I murmur against her lips before kissing her one last time and letting her go, but not before grabbing a throw blanket from the bottom of the bed and draping it over her beautifully bare body.
“Who is it?” she asks, sitting up with the blankets held to her chest, still looking irresistible as I grab my phone and read the message.
Wyatt: Is it safe to return? Dare wants to know.
I sit on the bed and show my phone to Em, who just giggles.
Jude: Give us twenty and we’ll be ready.
Wyatt: Figured you’d build up an appetite.
Jude: Wy….
Wyatt: Tell me I’m wrong.
I snort and shake my head.
Jude: See you soon. And thanks for… you know.
Wyatt: Don’t thank me. Thank the mountain. I’ve lived through many Calls. This isn’t my first rodeo.
Jude: Your turn next.
And It doesn’t escape my notice that Wyatt doesn’t answer. Lucky for my best friend, he has time.
Then again, Em and I do too.
Chapter 19
Em
An hour later, we’re all sitting around the dining room table–this time sans clean laundry–after stuffing ourselves full of sandwiches and Thanksgiving leftovers.
“Whatisthis exactly?” Ash says, waving his hand between me and my husband whose lap I’m sitting in.
If I thought I missed Jude before, that’s nothing compared to the intense need I’m filled with now. I crave him even though I’m in his arms. I’ve never felt this way before, it’s a little unnerving and yet… I’m more content than ever before.
At first, I was happy to sit next to him. Then our hands found their way to each other, forcing us to eat one handed. As soon as we’d finished lunch, though, Jude pulled me into his lap and he’s been my seat ever since.
“We’re married,” Jude states matter-of-factly.
Ash rolls his eyes. “I’m talkin’ about you two not bein’ able to get through a meal without touchin’. And now my sister has made a home in your lap.”