The Accidental Girlfriend

She sat on the edge of the bed in nothing but that faded, navy t-shirt. Then, she looked at me with her eyes sparkling and said, “I’m hungry. Can I raid your kitchen?”

And that was that.

EPILOGUE – LAUREN

Nine Months Later

“Hawaii.”

“No. Bali.”

“Bali? Do you know how expensive Bali is?”

“Do you know how expensive Hawaii is?”

“Why don’t we go somewhere closer? Like Cuba. Or the Bahamas?”

“How about a staycation?” I suggested. “It’s too cold to go anywhere now, but we can head somewhere in the summer. Florida is too hot then.”

Mason sighed and dropped his head back. “A staycation wasn’t how I pictured our first vacation together.”

“Yeah, well, Uncle Charlie accidentally sent me nudes last weekend, and I wasn’t expecting that, so…”

“Fine, fine, fine. Where are you thinking?”

“I have a couple ideas. We could go to the beach.”

“Lauren, babe, we live in Florida. The beach isn’t a vacation.”

“Ugh. You know what I mean. This isn’t a vacation.” I waved my arm around.

All right, so we were sitting on the beach, but who cared?

“All right. Humor me. Where do you wanna go?”

“There’s this little town I know in South Carolina. I went to school with a girl who lives there—her name is Halley. Their town makes a big deal out of summer, and they have this huge festival. She runs the kissing booth and is their reigning champion. It’s just inland enough from the beach that’s it’s not a full beach vacation, but close enough that it is.”

Mason leaned across the table. “That’s not a vacation. That’s a trip.”

“Okay, so let’s take a trip, then do the vacation to make sure we don’t kill each other.”

He rubbed his hands down his face. “You know what? That seems like a good idea. Let’s do that.”

I grinned. “I love it when you agree with me. It’s like Christmas all over again.”

“Hmm. You’re lucky I love you.”

“It’s not luck at all. You love my charm. It’s so endearing.”

“I’m surprised you can get anywhere with that ego of yours.”

“Well, you carry most of it for me with your sweet words, so…”

Mason smiled playfully, reaching across the table to brush his thumb over my jaw. “I’ll make sure to keep those contained in the future.”

“Aw. But I like those.”

“No. You’re taking them to heart too much.”

“I also took Pru shopping last week and I’m still scarred from zipping her up. You literally owe me.”

“I didn’t make you do that. Blame my mother.”

“I love your mom.”

“I know. You have a little girlmance going on. Whatever. Can we discuss something else now?”

“Like your birthday?”

He reached over and put his finger on my lips. “No. We aren’t discussing my birthday.”

“Aw.” I pouted. “But Henry wants to start planning.”

Mason shook his head. “Henry is on my shit list. Because he shit in my shoes.”

“He shit in your shoes because you didn’t bring him tuna. You know the rules. You started bringing tuna, so now you have to continue.”

“Yeah, but how do you explain Cara drooling all over my keys?”

“She’s, like, ten months old. You leave your keys where she can get them, and she’s going to eat them. That’s really all on you.”

He sighed and leaned back. “I knew this would be hard work. My shoes are shit in, my keys are covered in baby drool, and my vacation is to South Carolina instead of Hawaii. I don’t know why I’m surprised.”

I changed seats so I was sitting next to him instead of opposite him and scooted in next to him. “You’re not.”

He eyed me. “You’re right. I’m not.”

I grinned, nudging him with my elbow. “Love you.”

Mason tried to fight his smile, but he didn’t really stand a chance at all. He never did.

It was one of my favorite things about him.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re a pain in my ass.”

“I know. It’s why you love me.”

He pressed his lips against the side of my head. “Sure is.”