I roll my eyes. “You are way too competitive.”
“And that’s news how?”
“This all feels surreal,” I admit.
“Did you think this was where we’d end up when you moved in?”
I scoff. “I can definitely say I had no idea. You?”
“Oh, I told you way back when. It’s all about the endgame, baby.”
“Sure. You totally knew.”
“Maybe a part of me hoped,” he hedges. “Maybe I just hadn’t realized it yet.”
I feel my expression soften, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “I can’t believe I ever thought you were an asshole. You really are kind of a marshmallow.”
“Hey, that’s my line.”
“I amnota marshmallow.”
He makes a serious face. “No, of course not. Not big, strong Abby Thompson. She’s hard as a rock.”
“Don’t say things like that when you’re still inside me.”
“Mm, I’m hoping if I sit here long enough, I’ll be ready to go again.”
I shake my head as I lift off him, hearing his soft groan when he slips out of me. “You have to feed me first.”
“I knew you only loved me for my BFF nachos.”
“Can we really call them BFF nachos anymore?”
“You’re right,” he says seriously. “They’re definitely lover nachos now.”
“Oh, that’s infinitely worse.”
He adjusts his boxer briefs before helping me to the other side of the couch, reaching to grab for my underwear, walking back over to me, and using them to clean up the mess between my legs. I blush at the action, but Jack just gives me a wink.
“Fuel, then more fucking.”
I purse my lips as I look for my pants, needing new underwear now. “How romantic.”
“That’s just the sort of thing you can expect from me, baby.”
“I can’t wait,” I chuckle.
And oddly enough, I mean it, I find. Everything feels new and full of possibility, and it seems like, for once in my life, things have nowhere to go but up. I watch Jack shuffle around in the kitchen in nothing but his boxer briefs, wondering to myself how I snagged this beautiful man with his too-big heart, coming up with no answers but grateful all the same.
He stops on the other side of the counter all of a sudden, turning back to me with determination in his gaze as he stomps back over to the couch.
“What is it?” I ask.
“I almost forgot.”
He reaches to press both of his hands to my cheeks, pulling me in close for one more slow kiss that has me melting into him, only pulling away when I feel dizzy with it.
“I love you,” he says softly, his lips only a breath away from mine.