Page 77 of Wedding Bet

I shook my head slowly. “I don’t think I could ever be sad when I’m with you,” I murmured. “Crazy, sure, because I am completely fucking crazy for you, if you want the truth.”

I loved his smile. I loved it so, so much.

“Thank you, Landry.”

I breathed deep. “Why would I give a single fuck about my past when I could have such a beautiful future with you?”

It was a big ask, especially this early on.

A future with you.

These were usually things people talked about after months, maybe even years, of knowing each other. But at this point, I didn’t think I cared. I wanted to know what a future with Jamie would look like, no matter how long it was.

“I hope you don’t regret saying that,” Jamie said, looking at me, his eyes half-lidded with desire. “Because if I’m going to let you in on my life, I’m going to let youallin.”

“Doyouhave a gerbil collection, or something?” I asked, lifting an eyebrow.

His dimpled smile appeared again, like a gift. “No gerbil collection. Just bad roommates, some debt, and a dash of workaholic tendencies.”

I reached a hand up, tracing his jawline with my thumb. “Good,” I said, my voice low. “Because even if you had a gerbil collection, it wouldn’t be anywhere near stopping me from wanting to go down this road with you. But that other stuff? Doesn’t bother me one bit.”

“If you say so.”

“There’s one thing I need from you,” I told him. “Show me your real self, Jamie. Your real world. Don’t hide things away because you think I’d judge you or hate you or look down on you. I never will. It isn’t going to make me run away. If anything, it’ll just make me fall even harder for you.”

He looked at me with a glint of mischief in his eyes.

“You really think so, huh?”

“Try me.”

He tilted his head back, looking up at the sky for a moment before looking back down to me. “Okay,” he said, reaching for my hand. He grabbed it, leading me toward the steps. “You’re going to come see where I live, then. And if you head for the hills afterward, then it was nice knowing you.”

Finally.Finallyhe was going to start to let me in on his real life.

I let Jamie pull me along the sand and rocks back over toward the little staircase. He picked up his shirt from a little pile of stuff, tugging it on again and sliding on his socks and shoes.

“Sorry if my shirt smells like french fry grease,” he said as we walked up the stairs.

“It smells like a heavenly mix of cinnamon and sugar, actually.”

“Oh, right,” he said. “I was helping make a batch of cinnamon syrup at the end of the night.”

We started walking away from the coast, up narrow streets full of parked cars and bungalow beach houses. It certainly wasn’t the ritziest part of a beach town I’d seen, but it wasn’t anywhere near bad. It was cute, and quaint, and even the streets a bit further east were still kissed by the sea-breeze air from the ocean.

Jamie held my hand the whole time, leading me down a quiet street filled with more small homes.

“I feel like I’m in high school again,” I admitted as he led me along. “Holding hands, walking home with someone.”

“You’re right,” he told me. “Why does it feel like we’re breaking some rule? In a good way, like we found a loophole?”

“Because we both thought we might never see each other again,” I mused quietly, giving his hand a squeeze. “And here we are.”

I tugged him to a stop, pulling him toward me and wrapping my arms around him. I kissed him again, and he moaned softly at the surprise.

“Needed this again,” I murmured against his lips. “Sorry for derailing us on our journey.”

“I’m not complaining,” he said. “Derail me all you want.”

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