Page 126 of Puck Love

“I don’t mean right now, I mean ever. Stay with me. Move in withme?”

“Okay.”

“Okay?” I’m blown away by this, and I lean up on my elbow to look at her. She better not be teasing me. “Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Okay you’llstay?”

“Yeah. I mean, Nashville has always been my home, but there’s nothing there for me if the man I love is miles away. I’ll keep my house, and obviously, I’ll be there to record and for the music awards—which I expect you to attend—but after the tour ended, I just wanted to go home, only Nashville didn’t feel like home anymore. Lodge Rossdid.”

I search her gaze. “You’re not messing with me, areyou?”

“No, Van, I’m not messing with you,” she says, and she takes my face in her hands. “I want us to be together. We can’t live like this. Touring is one thing, and I get that you’ll be gone with away games, but I can handle that if you can. I can give up Nashville because you’re here, this house is here, and it’s the closest to home I’ve everfelt.”

I kiss her deeply and squeeze her so tight I worry she might break, because I know exactly what shemeans.

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