Page 114 of Jacob

“Is it okay?”

“It’s better than okay. It’s wonderful.” I grab his face and kiss him.

My perfect man is so perfect. Hard and fierce-looking on the outside and soft and squishy on the inside.

What more could a girl want?

39

JACOB

Skye’s face lights up like a full moon on a dark night as she flicks through the pages of her book.

All I want is to make her happy.

“We should put this in a glass case and put it on display in the hallway,” I suggest.

“Why?”

“Because it’s special.”

“It should be read and enjoyed; we need to put it in the library.”

She scrunches her nose up, not agreeing with me.

“Your turn.” She looks excited.

Unlike Skye, I rip the navy paper off in one go from my thin, twelve-inch square gift. Unwrapped, now I hold my hands on either side of the Crazy Town album I played over and over again when I was sixteen because it was always, always about her.

“It’s signed.” She points to the silver signature in the top corner.

“That’s so cool.”Where the hell did she get this?

“Do you like it?”

“I love it.” I love her.

“eBay,” she chuckles. “You get everything on there.”

I wish that were true. If I could buy something to wipe away the memories of her horrific ordeal, I would. I lean to the side and kiss her shoulder. “Thank you.”

I flip the twelve-inch vinyl record over in my hand to remind myself of the running order. So cool.

Laying her book on the bed, she leans forward, picks her mug of coffee and then mine off the tray, and passes it to me.

I take a sip and look around the house we’ve yet to make our home. I know with Skye’s creative design skills she’s going to make this place look incredible. “Will you be happy here?” I ask.

“If we get a better heating system installed, yes. Otherwise, I might freeze to death.”

She’s not wrong; the place is freezing. “What time is everyone coming today for Sunday dinner?”

“Early. They are all coming to help clean up.”

Thank Christ, the place looks like a bomb site down the stairs. I’m now regretting the decision to host a small wedding and do everything by ourselves.

Both our parents, our grandparents, my brother, sister, and their spouses, along with their brood of children, are coming to the house today. Skye wants this to be our family tradition: everyone, every Sunday, comes to us.

My nieces and nephews love the house, and I can’t wait to create so many new memories together as one big family unit.

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