Page 35 of Life After

Jen slid her jacket off and hung it over the back of a dining chair. “Sure. Go for it.”

“Could we maybe sit down first and I don’t know…breathe?”

Jen laughed and nodded. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ambush you as I walked through the door.” Jen cocked her head towards the closed folding doors that led to the living room. “Let’s get comfy in there.” Suzanne inconspicuously drew in a deep breath as Jen turned her back and opened the doors. As Suzanne’s romantic little setup came into view, Jen glanced over her shoulder, brows raised. “What’s this for, babe?”

“Don’t worry. I’m not asking you to sign your life away to me. Nothing dramatic, even though I now realise I’ve made it look exactly like that.” Suzanne wrung her hands and puffed out her cheeks. “Just…go through. I’ll explain when I can think of a sentence I’m capable of speaking out loud.”

God, Suzanne had never been the nervous type. She’d also never shied away from her feelings or what she expected of someone she was dating. Yet here she was, terrified that Jen may not feel the same way.

“Hey,” Jen reached out a hand as she sat down on the couch. “Come here. You look terrified, and I don’t know why.” Jen cast her gaze on the mass of pillows and blankets strewn all over the living room floor between the couch and fireplace. Candles flickered and gave the room a soft glow, the fire roaring and heating the place to the perfect temperature. “Suzanne?”

Suzanne shook her head. “Sorry, what?”

“Come and sit down. Talk to me. Stop looking so scared.”

On shaky legs, Suzanne moved towards the couch and sat down beside Jen. This was a ridiculous reaction to have. This woman had been nothing short of perfect since they’d met. God, she’d even met Suzanne’s niece. In fact, Suzanne’s niece loved Jen more than she loved Suzanne. But that wasn’t hard. Jen waseverythingSuzanne loved in a person. “I don’t know what I’m worrying about.”

“Me neither. So why don’t you tell me what’s going on and we can figure it out together.”

Suzanne smiled. “Nothing isgoing on, exactly. I just…wanted to check in with you, I guess.”

“Check in?” Jen eyed the decorations around the living room once again. “What exactly does all of this have to do with checking in, Suzanne?”

Oh, for the love of God. Just open your mouth and speak!

Suzanne took a breath as she turned to face Jen fully. “I want us to be exclusive. I don’t want us to date anyone else or look at anyone else.”

“R-right.” Jen took Suzanne’s hand. “Forgive me, but I kind of assumed we were already exclusive.”

Suzanne placed her other hand on her chest. “Oh, thank God.”

“Did you think that we weren’t?” Jen seemed genuinely shocked and confused. Suzanne had worked herself up for no reason at all. “Babe?”

“It wasn’t something we’d spoken about, so I didn’t want to assume.” Suzanne ran a hand through her hair, the tension falling from her shoulders immediately. “I hoped we’d be on the same page, but again…I didn’t want to assume.”

Jen lifted a hand and drew her thumb across Suzanne’s bottom lip. “You’re quite adorable, you know.”

“I’m ridiculous,” Suzanne said, scoffing. “But thank you for putting my mind at rest instead of letting me ramble on about it. I appreciate that.”

“Look, Suzanne.” Jen shifted a little closer. “When I’m dating someone, I’m datingonlythem. Even if we haven’t had the conversation, I would never dream of going on a date with or even looking at someone else. It’s all about you, okay? In my mind, we’ve been exclusive since the first time we slept together.”

As Jen said that, something in her tone had Suzanne frowning ever so slightly. Jen was saying the right things, but her demeanour didn’t quite fit in with her words.

“I don’t know how long this will last. I don’t know what length of time you can put up with me for. I just know that I really don’t want it to end.” Jen ran her thumb across Suzanne’s knuckles as she brought them to her lips and kissed them. “I don’t see anyone else in my future. Not for as long as you’re in my life, anyway.”

“Okay.” Suzanne cupped Jen’s cheek and smiled into a kiss. “As for all of this, I just wanted to do something nice and romantic for us. To show you that I appreciate you being here with me. It’s nothing much, just some candles and some 0% gin and tonic, but I enjoyed doing this for us tonight.”

“It looks gorgeous, babe.” Jen touched her forehead to Suzanne’s. “Not quite as gorgeous as you, but couple them together, and it’s perfect.”

Instead of thinking about what Jen had just said—Suzanne was close to telling her something far more important—she reached for the two drinks on the table and handed one over to Jen.It’s too soon to tell her you’re falling. “To us?”

That bright white smile of Jen’s made an appearance as they clinked their glasses. “Always to us.”

“Now, what did you want to talk to me about?” Suzanne relaxed back on the couch and brought her drink to her lips. “This space now belongs to you.”

Jen waved a hand between them. “Oh. Nothing important. Don’t worry about it.”

Jen mindlessly grazedher fingers through Suzanne’s hair where she sat curled up against her on the blankets covering the floor. While she had loved everything that had happened this evening, hearing about Suzanne’s desire to be exclusive, a heaviness sat in her chest. Tonight was supposed to be the night that she came clean, but after Suzanne’s heartfelt speech and all the trouble she had gone to in order to make this night perfect for them, Jen couldn’t utter the words.

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