Page 83 of Sing Me Home
“Hi, Jane,” he called as he opened the door for me.
“Have fun sucking face!” she yelled.
He laughed, closed my door, and jogged around to get in.
“Ready for game night?” he asked as he eased us back onto the driveway.
“If you mean—am I ready to whoop some trash? Then yes.”
As we crested over the hill and turned toward the main road, Cash’s gaze drifted over the blacktop that led to the Clean Slate recording studio. But more importantly, the knoll where he wanted to build us a house. He’d taken me to it the day after we got together.
When he looked straight ahead again, my gaze fell to our joined hands, resting on top of the center console. When did that happen? He glanced down at our hands too, his expression dazed.
I watched him while he drove. It was hard not to. He was mesmerizing. Captivating. Breathtaking. Way cuter than whoever Millie was currently ‘engaged’ to.
Cash’s nose was perfect, not even a hint of a bump. I’d been kind of obsessed with it when we were younger. Just caught myself staring every now and then. That nose almost got me in trouble a time or two.
But nothing was as beautiful as his mouth. Something about the way it was shaped had always fascinated me. His top lip cut just right, his bottom lip a little fuller, always twitching like he was holding back a secret. Even after all this time, it was my favorite mouth in the world.
Or maybe that was because I could kiss it now.
He glanced over when he felt me watching. “What? Do I have something on my face?”
“No. I just love your mouth.”
His brows flicked up. “Not as much as I love your mouth. I can promise you that.”
“Doubtful.” I rested both elbows on the console and propped my chin on my fists, staring at those lips. “I’m not sure what I had a bigger crush on when I was younger, you as a whole, or your mouth.”
He rewarded me with an amused smile. “You had a crush on my mouth?”
“I did.” I let out a contented breath. “I do.”
He stopped at the entrance to the ranch, in front of Jeff’s house, and put the car in park.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “Aren’t we late?” I shrieked when he yanked me over the console and into his lap.
“Charlie.” His nose was doing that nuzzling thing again. “I need to ask you a question?”
I looped my hands around the back of his neck, savoring every touch. “If you propose to me in the car, I’m going to say no.”
He chuckled. “You’d say yes if we stepped outside?”
I rolled my eyes and smiled.
“I got you something.” My heart rattled in my chest as he reached down into the door pocket. Did he seriously get a ring already?
“Cash,” I warned with trepidation.
“Don’t worry. It’s not a ring. I’m not going to propose to you in the car, silly. I’ll do better than that.” When his hand came up, he revealed a white box with a smart watch logo on the top. “For the race.”
My stomach swooped happily. “You didn’t need to do that.”
He popped the lid off and pulled the watch out. “Sure, I didn’t need to, but I wanted to. Now we can track each other’s heart rate, our pace, and distances.” He held his hand out.
I laid mine in it and let him hook the band around my wrist.
“I already synced our info. And look…” He tapped on the screen and a selfie we’d taken a few days ago appeared. He sat behind me, legs straddling mine as we watched TV. I smiled for the camera. I thought he smiled too. Nope. He gazed at me like he still couldn’t believe I was his. If sixteen-year-old Charlie could’ve seen this picture, she would’ve made much different choices.
