Page 120 of Honeymoon Phase
I’d like to temp check her right now.
She turns her head when she hears me coming. “How’s it going out there?” she asks, closing the oven and shooting me a nervous expression.
“It’s total chaos,” I reply, stifling down my dirty thoughts.
Her face falls. “Shit... I should go out and help.”
“No, you shouldn’t,” I bark firmly, glancing at the windows to see the curtains are all still closed. “Everly and my mom insisted this all stay a surprise and that’s what we’re doing. No peeking.”
She groans and grips the towel wrapped around her head. “I shouldn’t have let them do all the planning. They’re probably going overboard.”
“Oh, they’re definitely going overboard,” I confirm and laugh at my wife’s panicked expression.
She spins to walk away, but I capture her in my hands, pulling her back to me. “Relax, they love this shit.”
She shakes her head. “I just... I’m starting to feel guilty about everything.”
“Don’t,” I rasp, pressing a kiss to her lips. “They love doing this. They love you.”
“They do?” Her brows lift and she looks up at me timidly, like it’s even in question.
“Of course they love you. You’re...” my chest contracts with the emotion swelling inside of me “...easy to love.”
Her lower lip disappears between her teeth as she stares at my chest, mulling something over. What I wouldn’t give to have the power to reach inside her mind and hear what she’s thinking.
Just say it, Addison. Say you love me. You look at me like you do. You touch me like you do. Why can’t you just say it?
“How much hair did you get cut this morning when you went to town?” she asks, changing the subject as she pulls my hat off and musses my locks.
“A decent amount. I thought it would look better for the pictures.” I drag my hand through my freshly trimmed beard as well. “Do you hate it?”
She shakes her head. “No, I like it. I... love it.”
My brows pop. “Love it?”
“Yeah.” She combs her fingers through my tresses, scoring her nails on my scalp as I melt into her like I always do when she touches me. “I... love it,” she confirms, making it very clear she’s capable of using that word. I stare deeply into her eyes, willing her to say more, but she inhales sharply and looks away.“It’s getting late, and my dad is going to be here soon, so I better get ready. You too, Fletcher.”
She pushes me away playfully and I struggle to hide the disappointment on my face. We’re so close... and yet... so far away.
Addison
My heart races as I hold a glass of wine to my lips and glance around the dining room table consisting of my dad and Edith, Luke’s mom, his three brothers and the ladies, plus Everly, Ethan, and Stevie.
I smile as I watch Stevie at the far end of the table struggle against Trista’s attempts to wipe barbecue sauce off her cherubic little cheeks. Wyatt is grumbling next to them while dabbing at a barbecue sauce stain that Stevie managed to smear all over his white button-down and a strange premonition hits me.
I swear I can see me and Luke in a similar scenario. The two of us at this table with a little one of our own. Arguing over whose fault it is. What would the baby look like? Me or Luke?
My heart races with that imagery because it doesn’t make me panic. It makes me happy. It makes me feel excited about the future.
I twine my fingers through Luke’s on top of the table, and he turns to smile at me, pulling my hand up to press his lips to my knuckle. He laughs at something Ethan said, looking away as his eyes crinkle in the most delicious way. His new haircut and trimmed beard give me butterflies as he sits there in a dark green dress shirt that brings out his eyes. What a husband he makes.
When I finally pry my attention away from him, I catch Everly grinning at me from across the table. I shift in my seat, adjusting theturtleneck of my cream sweater dress self-consciously because I swear, I’ve caught that girl looking at me all night. I’d be developing a complex if she didn’t seem so happy.
Everyone is happy.
I am happy.
I am in love.
