Page 121 of The Forever After Bet

“Split the cinnamon roll cookie with me,” Hannah says breaking the cookie in half.

“You don’t have to ask me twice.” I pluck the smaller of the two halves out of her hand and take a bite.

She narrows her eyes at me but is smiling. She closes her eyes as she takes a bite, making a little satisfied moan as she chews. It causes a zing of pleasure to rush through my body. “I love cookies.”

“I love watching you eat cookies.” I laugh.

June and Ty come upstairs and grab a couple of cookies, and Leah and Jack finally make it inside. We head out to their enclosed, heated patio to chat. The large glass windows and doors make it bright and inviting room.

Hannah tells us about her conversation with Alison, and Jack tells the girls about Ryker and Mason.

“Did everyone get the text message about the new website post?” June asks.

We all nod.

“I thought it was weird.” June pulls her phone out, looking at the text.

“What was weird about it?” Ty asks.

“Well, it came through on the same number as the text I got for the Christmas fundraiser reminder.” June shrugs.

Hannah gasps. She snaps her fingers and stands up, turning to look at me.

“What is it?” I ask, standing.

“I know how to get the website shut down!” Hannah exclaims.

I grab her shoulders. “How?”

We still don’t know what to do about Bree and her blackmail, but we have a plan for getting the website shut down. If that goes away, we’re hoping Bree will back off on this scheme. She won’t have an outlet to post her lies anymore.

“What are we doing?” Hannah asks as I pull into my house.

“My dad had a business meeting in Los Angeles, and my mom went with him. They won’t be home until Thursday.”

“Oh, okay.” She gives me a cautious look.

I open the passenger door of the Rover and help her in. “We don’t have to do anything. It’s been a while since we hung out at my house. I’ve missed it.”

“Me too. Will you make me something to eat?” Hannah asks, biting her lower lip.

“I’d love too.”

“Yay, let’s go.”

I lean in, giving her a quick kiss. “So easy to please.”

I make grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches, and we play a game of Madden.

“Oh, I’ve missed this.” Hannah tosses her remote down the sofa.

“You miss losing to me at the Xbox?”

She tilts her head, thinking, then nods. “Yep. Some days I wish we could go back to the summer. It was just you and me, and we’d spend the days playing video games, swimming, or riding around on your jet ski.”

“Life is has certainly been more complicated since then, but I feel like we’ve grown so much as people and as a couple. I wouldn’t change that.”

“Neither would I.” Hannah gets up, standing in front of me. She takes my game controller out of my hand, setting it on the coffee table and then crawls on my lap, straddling me.

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