Page 102 of Pick Me
“Gage?” Knox stepped out the front door and immediately clocked me where I was perched on the porch railing. “You okay, baby? It’s fucking freezing out here and you don’t have a coat.”
I slid my phone into the front pocket of my sweatshirt—the sweatshirt that Knox no longer even pretended was his—and leaned back against the porch railing. I looked up at the love of my life, the man who made me smile each and every day, the man who was myhomeevery bit as much as this town was, and scoffed loudly. “Pssht. You flatlanders with your sensitivity to the cold. Honestly. Ernest’s right about you.”
Knox leaned against the railing beside me and folded his arms over his chest, which would have been a lot more intimidating if he hadn’t also been fighting a smile. “Oh, really. And what does the bartender have to say about ‘us flatlanders,’ pray tell?”
“That you can’t tell your applewine from your English,” I said smugly.
Knox looked up at the porch roof. “Nearly a billion gay men in the world, Jesus, and I had to end up falling in love with the one who can make apple cider varietals sound like dirty talk? Really?”
I snickered and tugged at the hem of his bulky sweater until he scooted close enough for me to lean my head on his shoulder. “You had to end up falling in love with the one who got so excited about helping Uncle Drew with his retirement project that he became just theteensiestbit obsessed with cider. But on the plus side, Ernest says anyone who knows cider as well as I do is clearly a native of the Hollow, no matter where he happened to be born—”
“Oh, well as long as an authority likeErnestsays you belong here.” Knox rolled his eyes even as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder.
“Unlike certain folk,” I interrupted, wrinkling my nose, “who had the ‘overwhelming good fortune’ to be born in the Hollow and then ‘absconded to parts unknown—'”
Knox snorted. “Boston is hardly parts unknown—”
“Which was like giving up your right to citizenship in the Hollow forever,” I concluded sadly. “According to Ernest.”
“That’s… fascinating, but it doesn’t actually work like that,” Knox said with the trademark grumpy expression I loved.
“Mmm. You sure?” I twisted my mouth to one side doubtfully. “Ernest’s not just the bartender, he’s also the mayor, remember?Andhis bar is the old town hall.” I nodded at the Historical Society plaque affixed beside the door which, aside from the “The Bugle, Est. 1767” sign on the front lawn, was truly the only thing that made the building look like anything besides an old, white clapboard Colonial house. “So, like… I’m pretty sure Ernest would know, baby.”
“I’m positive. Citizenship is about where you live and are registered to pay taxes, not some ridiculous cider-based eligibility test. And furthermore, you don’t get to ban someone forever just because—”
“Tell me more,” I whispered huskily, fluttering my eyelashes at him. “Educate me, Daddy.”
Knox closed his eyes and shook his head. “I hate you.”
“But not as much as you love me!” I laughed. “And, good news, Ernest says I can convey citizenship on my spouse, so when we… Uh.”
Shit. I had definitely not meant to say that.
I cleared my throat. “You know what? I think I hear the second half of the game starting. I was out here chatting with the fam, but I’m done now. So weird how you can’t get a signal inside the building, eh? But you’re right, we should go back inside.Brrr. Chilly. Does it look like snow to you? Hurry before we’re stuck out here in the blizzard.” I pushed ineffectually at his muscular arm.
He refused to be budged. “Mmm. Wait just a minute there, Goodman. Finish your thought. Are you offering to marry me so I can… become a citizen of Little Pippin Hollow?”
“No. Ha! As if.No. We’ve only been together for, like, four months! A third of a year. And I’m only twenty-five, Knox. That’d be… it’d be…”
Crazy. Scary.Perfect.
My pulse increased with excitement and no fear whatsoever, but I forced myself to calm the fuck down. Before we got together, Knox had been unsure about getting into a relationship at all.
He was joking. Joke. Ing.
Sure enough, when he looked at me his eyes danced. “Hey, if we did, would that make me a naturalized citizen of Whispering Key, too? Because your dad offered to take me out on the boat when we were down there last month, but I’m thinking maybe I should get myownboat since I’m a citizen. Can I be part of the group chat? Should we ask the mayor? He’d probably know.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I see what you’re doing and you’re not funny.”
“Except I kind of am.” He smiled his happy-go-lucky smile and I melted into a puddle of Gage-goo right there.
“You kind of are,” I agreed. “And as my boyfriend, you can be part of the group chat whenever you want.” I patted his chest, mostly for the excuse to touch him. “Their shenanigans might piss you off constantly, though, fair warning.”
“Nah.” He leaned in and ran his cold nose against my jaw, making me shiver. “I’m calm as the orchard in winter these days.”
“Yeah.” I teased with a happy sigh. “And all because you found the love of a good man.”
He laughed. “I was gonna credit the weekly therapy sessions, consistent meditation practice, good coping mechanisms, total lifestyle change, and having a patient doctor who’s worked to get me on a good combo of medication even though it’s taken months.” He turned and wrapped his arms around my waist. “But all of that has gotten me to a place where I can appreciate and return the love of a good man, and build a future with him, which is pretty crucial.”
