Page 128 of Confessions of a Smutty Romance Author

“Hey, you two!” I said, hugging Tess first. Her bump pressed into my stomach, and then she stepped back, saying, “Did you feel that? She kicked!”

I grinned, letting her put my hand to her stomach. “I felt it! She must be excited for pancakes.”

“Or to see Aunty Mara,” Derek said.

I smiled at him. He was such a sweetheart. “I can’t believe we only have to wait a couple more weeks to meet her in person!”

Tess smiled, holding up her crossed fingers.

I stepped back so they could both go inside and then saw Birdie, Cohen, and Henrietta coming up the sidewalk. I hugged each of them, then let them in.

Cohen’s parents came next, both of them dressed up in the show’s colors for the event. It was so damn sweet my teeth hurt.

Soon, everyone was inside, sitting on ourcomfortablefurniture, and Jonas was running the remote to access the right channel.

As soon as the opening credits played withwritten by Mara Taylor, Grayson Jones, and Fredricka Martin, our friends cheered loudly, patting me on the back and grinning at me. I felt just as famous as I had at the premiere forSwipe Right.

We watched through the episode, laughing at the jokes I had written, gasping at the surprises, and swooning over the love interest that had been cast so perfectly. Bradley Mason was a genius, and so were us writers, if I did say so myself.

But when the end credits should have been rolling, a video played in front of the text. Bradley Mason stood in front of the camera, saying, “We have a special surprise for one of our writers! Check this out.” The imaged changed to Jonas.

“What is this?” I asked him, but he pointed to the TV, where he was kneeling on the screen.

“Mara Taylor, you’re an incredible writer and an even better woman. I’d like to know if you’ll write the rest of your future with me as your husband.”

Tears stung my eyes, and I turned to Jonas, who was now kneeling across the coffee table from me, holding an open ring box in his hands. Inside was a gold band with carefully hewn details and a green stone in the center.

I covered my heart with my hands. “Jonas... are you sure? I’m with you forever either way.”

He grinned. “I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.”

It felt like the whole room was holding its breath, waiting for my answer, including me. Fear ripped through me. Fear of messing it up. Of being less than Jonas deserved. But then I looked into his eyes, and I remembered that I believed in happily ever after. I believed in him.

Most importantly, I believed inus.

And I said yes. Because the best love stories had no end.

Henrietta

We were back in Vestido again, shopping for dresses for my best friend’s wedding, and I was starting to see a pattern. A pattern I didn’t like.

I met Birdie and Mara two years ago. We became fast friends, all girls in our late twenties, transitioning into our thirties. It helped that we had a mutual love of breakfast food and mojitos.

I’d never really been a girlfriend kind of girl, always being a loner who was more worried about school and work than fun. It didn’t help that my grandma couldn’t drive anymore and took up lots of my free time with her appointments and outings.

Or maybe that was just an excuse.

Because after Birdie got married, Mara, the self-proclaimed eternally single woman, fell in love.

She got engaged.

And now she was six months from getting married.

And me?

You guessed it.

Still. Single.

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