Page 120 of Make Her Mine

Jefferson runs a hand up and down my back and kisses my shoulder. “I know. But we have to.”

It’s very unusual for me not to want to go to brunch.

But brunch the day after the wedding is an exception. It’s Leaving Day and this brunch is to say goodbye to Graham and Ginny. Both of them are leaving Sapphire Falls this afternoon to go home. Well, not home. They are home while they’re in Sapphire Falls, dammit. But they’re going back to where they live now.

I fucking hate saying goodbye to them.

There is one way this brunch will be different. I roll to my back and look up into my boyfriend’s face. “Can I spend the night here tonight?” I don’t want to be alone at my house tonight.

Jefferson looks puzzled but pleased. “You never have to ask permission for that. I’d have you here every night if it was my decision.”

I grin. “That was a very good answer.” I put my hand against his cheek. “I have to go back to work tomorrow, but I don’t want to go home alone tonight. Or wake up in the morning alone.”

I know he understands that the days when I say goodbye to friends make me lonely. I hope he understands that he is already making that better.

He leans over and kisses me. “From now on, you are only alone if you want to be. Got it?”

I nod. “Got it.”

We get up, get ready, and head to the Blue Stone.

I think I fall even more in love when Jefferson nudges me toward the chair between Ginny and Graham while he takes a chair a couple of seats down and across the table. I like that he’s not clingy and understands that I need to be with my friends.

On Graham’s other side, Margot is sitting close and as I take my seat, I notice Graham’s hand on her thigh under the table.

He gives me a grin and leans into the side hug I give him.

“I’m going to miss you,” I tell him. “But maybe it won’t be so long before I see you again.” I look pointedly at his hand on Margot’s leg.

“I love you,” he says. “But when she comes to visit next, you’re not invited.”

My mock pout is ruined by my laugh. “Wow, it took you zero time to shoot me right out of your number one girl spot.”

He chuckles. “Well, my trial kiss with Margot went a lot better than yours and mine did.”

I shake my head and lift the mimosa that has magically appeared in front of me. “It’s always about sex, isn’t it?”

Graham very obviously widens his eyes, looks toward his brother, then back to me. “Hi, black pot, I’m kettle.”

I laugh and Jefferson's gaze meets mine across the table. He gives me a look that makes butterflies kick up in my stomach. And in that moment, it hits me that I truly believe that is going to happen for the rest of our lives. He will be sitting across the table from me in this very restaurant, surrounded by a lot of these same people, thirty years from now, and he’ll shoot me that look, and my stomach will swoop.

I take another drink and try to ignore the idea that I wish I was sitting next to him, and he had his hand on my thigh right now.

The best part of my teasing with Graham is that I am thrilled he and Margot are doing well. The more in love they are, the closer I am to having my best friend move back home. Having brunch on a regular basis with Jefferson, Margot, and Graham is my idea of heaven.

Ginny leads over and whispers, “So what’s going to happen now?”

I don’t know where to start. There’s so much to look forward to. “If you wanted to move back, I would rent you my house for really cheap,” I tell her.

She blinks at me. “What are you talking about?”

“Just thinking that Jefferson and I will probably be living together soon. His house is bigger, so I’ll probably move in there. But I could keep my place and rent it to you if you wanted to move back.”

She rolls her eyes. “I wasn’t asking you about real estate. But I guess you answered my question about you and my brother anyway.”

I sip more orange juice and champagne. They put a splash of peach juice in the mimosas here and it’s delightful. “What was your question?”

“If you and Jefferson were going to keep dating.”

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