608 Alpha Avenue (Cherry Falls)

Maybe I’ll just never tire of him period.

“There’ll have to be some conditions,” I tease.

“Like what?”

“Like …” I have no idea. I’m working off the cuff here. But I can’t just say yes. “I’m not cooking a lot.”

“Let’s hope not. I hate the sound of the fire alarms.”

I reach over the table and shove his arm. Once I’m settled back in my seat, I think of something else.

“I also say we have to split laundry,” I tell him.

“Fair enough. Anything else?”

He seems to expect me to say something in particular, but I have no idea what it might be. So, I shrug.

He shifts in his seat. “I was thinking that maybe we should agree on where this relationship is going.”

I shift in my seat too. “Okay.”

“If, uh, if we’re living together,” he says, his leg bouncing under the table next to mine, “then we should put our expectations on the table.”

“I just did.”

“I was thinking more like that us living together means we’re an item.”

I frown. “Aren’t we already? Isn’t that what this is? Or have I been under the wrong impression this past month?”

He shakes his head. “No, you’re right. It has been. I just … I want you to know that I’m serious as fuck about you. I want you, Haley.” He swallows hard. “I love you.”

My head spins, my heart squeezing at the genuineness in his face.

His words roll around and around my head, reverberating in every hollow spot in my body.

He reaches across the table for my hand.

I place my palms in his and bat back a tear. “I love you, Grayson.”

It’s light flipping a switch. His features light up from the inside out. He leans forward again.

“What do you say we get out of here?” he says mischievously.

“For what? We haven’t even gotten our food yet.”

“They know where we live.” He grins at his choice of words. “Let’s go home so I can get up inside you and—”

I spring to my feet. “Let’s go, sir.”

He laughs and stands too. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Well,” I say as we start outside. “You can start with my mouth …”