Page 32 of The Forever After Bet

“All right.” I sigh. I hate keeping our relationship a secret, but Ford has a point. “It’s a good idea to take things slow for a while.”

Ford leans in, kissing my neck. “Exactly how slow are we going? Because we have all night here together.”

I thread my hands through his hair. “Not that slow. I’ve dreamed of being with you every night we’ve been apart.

Ford groans, leaning in and kissing me. “Me too.”

I glide my lips along his jaw, up to his ear. “Take me to bed, Crawford,” I whisper, then bite his earlobe.

“With pleasure, Clark.” He stands up, keeping me in his arms, and I wrap my legs around his waist.

“Impressive,” I laugh.

“I’ve been working out just so I could do that.” Ford nips my bottom lip.

“Lucky me.”

Ford sits me down on the edge of the bed. I stare up at him, my heart overflowing with love and desire. He glides his fingers along my jaw and cheek, pushing wayward curls behind my ear. I hold up my arms, and he bunches up the bottom of my shirt. He slowly lifts it; but before he can get it off, there is a knock at the door. Ford pushes my shirt down. We both turn to the door and stare at it. “It’s probably my grandma.”

I sure hope so. “Do your parents know where you are?”

“Yeah, Gigi said she called my mom and told her I was here. With school canceled tomorrow, I’m sure my mom knows I’m staying here.”

“Ford, Hannah, are you in there?” Gigi hollers from the other side of the door. We both breathe a sigh of relief, and we get up and head into the small entryway to answer the door.

16. Sleepover

“Sorry, Gran,” I say, pulling my grandma into the house and out of the snowstorm. She’s covered head to toe in fluffy, wet snow.

“It’s okay.” She smiles, shaking the snow from her head and arms. “It’s supposed to snow like this all night.”

“It’s unbelievable. We don’t usually get a snowstorm like this until the end of December or in January,” Hannah says, wiping snow from Gigi’s back and shoulders and helping her take her coat and hat off.

“You could’ve called me. I would have come to the house.” I shake my head at my grandma.

“Men,” she mutters, rolling her eyes at me. “You sound like your grandfather. I called Lily and told her you came over to visit and decided to stay because of the weather. I wanted to make sure Hannah was okay to stay here for the night.”

“Um—kind of.” Hannah glances at me, biting her bottom lip. I put my hand on the small of her back for reassurance. “My parents think I’m staying at a girlfriend’s house. Beth—my stepmom—has been…” Hannah trails off, takes a breath, and tries again. “She’s the one who’s so against Ford’s and my relationship. My parents don’t know about the elopement, and I didn’t want to explain why I was going over to Ford’s grandparents’ house when I wasn’t sure of the reason.” She covers her hands over her face, embarrassed.

“It’s okay, Hannah.” I wrap my arms around her, pulling her to me. Deceiving our parents was the last thing we ever wanted to do, but no matter how we tried, that’s where we ended up.

“Lily told me about the intervention your parents had with the two of you. I’m sorry, that must be rough.” Gigi pats Hannah’s back. “Don’t feel bad. I’ve been there.”

“Really?” Hannah and I ask at the same time.

“Yes. My parents hated Ernest when they first met him. They thought he was a no-good weed smoking hippy that would never amount to anything. They weren’t wrong about the first part, but your gramps was the hardest worker I’d ever met. I knew he was going places. He was the total package. Tall, good looking, funny, a gentleman, hardworking, and I could tell him anything. He’d let me talk his ear off for hours. He still does.” My grandma lets out a wispy sigh. “Sorry. The point I’m trying to make is that my parents forbid me from seeing him, so I lied, snuck out of the house, snuck him into my house, and all other kinds of debauchery. When he proposed to me with the one-carat diamond ring I gave you, my dad asked if he stole it. Ernest came prepared, pulled out his receipt to show my dad, and then asked him if he could marry me. Crazy enough, my dad said yes.”

“I never knew that,” I say.

“Sometimes it takes a while for parents to see the entire picture. Their field of vision narrows to what they think is best for their children, and anything outside that view is catastrophic.”

Hannah laughs. “That’s Beth.”

“Does your friend have a way of getting a hold of you?” Gigi asks Hannah.

“Yes.” Hannah pulls the white cell phone from her pocket. “Ford gave me this phone after my parents forced us to break up, so we could still talk. I’ve talked to her tonight.”

“Sounds good.” My grandma holds up a reusable grocery bag. “I forgot to bring the cookies when I dropped off the food earlier. So, here’s a plate and a bowl of dough if you want some freshly baked ones.”

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