Page 126 of The Pinkie Pact

We clung to each other a long while, coming down from our high, the feelings whirling through me, feelings I could no longer deny, feelings that had rushed back even stronger.

Opening my mouth to tell him, we were interrupted by the sound of his phone.

"I better check that," he grumbled, his eyes apologetic as he slowly moved his body while I sat up.

I watched as he crossed the room, buck naked, to find his phone over by the couch. "Group text from my mom checking in on us."

With that, reality came flooding back. There was no escape ever from the real world. While he wrote back, I went to the bathroom to clean myself up and get dressed, my stomach growling. When I came back out, Kieran was fully clothed also, his gaze taking me in, searching my face.

"Are you okay?" he asked, a crease between his brows.

I smiled at him because, yeah, I was definitely okay. "Just hungry."

And his own smile transformed his face from worried to absolutely stunning. "Me too," he said softly.

If Kara were here, she'd be annoyed at our goo-goo eyes right now. My grin growing, I went into the kitchen, Kieran following. Between the mind-blowing sex we'd just had and the crazy emotions I was experiencing, I wasn't even sure what to say at the moment. In the end, though, I chickened out and decided not to mention either.

"So, um, how's your family today?" I asked, reaching up high for a bowl.

Without me even asking, Kieran easily grabbed two bowls and set them on the counter, making me sigh with appreciation.

"My mom sounded better. She probably needed a night with her sister. I'm sure there's crap she's not telling us."

"I'm sure. Probably things you don't need or want to know," I said as I poured us both some cereal.

"Exactly."

"And Kara?"

Kieran laughed while grabbing the spoons. "She said something about still being in bed and not to bother her."

"That's so her," I said with a giggle.

Soon, the two of us sat on the couch eating our cereal, stealing glances at each other as Kieran occasionally answered a text from his mom.

I thought again about telling him my feelings, but he was so distracted that the timing didn't seem right. Plus, we weren't quite back to where we had been before as far as communicating, a bit of awkwardness hanging in the air between us.

"My mom just said to look outside." Kieran put down his empty bowl and walked over to peek through the blinds, a gasp coming out of his mouth. "You have got to see this."

Rushing over, I stood by his side while he opened the blinds completely. "Oh, my God."

Everything was covered in white, the whole world quiet and hushed with no traffic, no people to be seen. Pure magic had descended during the night. And by the looks of it, Mother Nature wasn't done with us yet. Big, fat flakes still fell from the sky.

His arm coming around me, a grin on his face, Kieran looked down at me. "Now might be your chance to sit on Lincoln's lap."

Now gasping myself, I asked, "You really think so?"

"Come on." He smacked my ass. "Let's do it."

Swallowing hard, I nodded. "Okay. Let's do it."

Minutes later, we were out in the cold, completely bundled up from head to toe now that Kara had helped me get everything I needed. It was hard work walking through the deep snow, but Kieran and I held onto each other, smiling and laughing as we followed the familiar path.

As we trudged along, the snowfall started to pick up, and I noticed we were the only ones crazy enough to be out here. But I freaking loved it. It felt like Kieran and I were the only two people in the world. Not a single car passed us. The entire city seemed to be shut down for a Sunday snow day.

Eventually, breathless and sporting pink cheeks, we made it down to the Mall and headed toward the memorial. And Kieran was right. No other souls were around. Even the squirrels seemed to be hiding way up high in the trees. There was no one to witness my debauchery.

Once we were inside the cold marble interior, Kieran tried his hardest to boost me up there, but with my half-frozen, wet hands, I just couldn't get a good grip to pull myself up. His fingers dug into my ass as he tried and tried again to lift me, but we ended up collapsing in a fit of laughter at how ridiculous we were.

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