Page 49 of Forever Yours
His lips are barely a breath from mine?—
“Ithoughtthat was you two!”
Knox and I both startle, flicking our attention toward the familiar voice: Dex, from the animal clinic.
The sassy vet tech who keeps calling us a couple.
Totally unbothered, Knox sinks back slightly, his arm still around me, caressing my shoulder.
“Wow. If it isn’t our favorite vet tech,” he says, smirking like Dex just crashed our honeymoon, and he doesn’t mind it one bit.
Dex grins, clearly pleased with himself. “Didn’t mean to interrupt. Well, actually, I kind of did. I work morning shifts here. Small town, remember?”
I can practically hear my heart doing parkour.
“You two want menus, or should I just bring you whatever feels the mostnon-couple-y?”
“Um—” Knox begins.
“No need to explain,” Dex says, beaming like he’s been manifesting this moment foryears. “I knew you two would be a couple eventually. You can’t fight that kind of energy.”
Stripe and Shadow stir, luring Dex’s attention away from us. “OMG. Did you bring those sweet babies with you?”
I nod, unzipping the carrier as Dex crouches to peek inside, a Cheshire Cat grin stretching across his face.
“How are our two little matchmakers doing?” he coos, taking turns stroking each behind the ears. “Look at them, so proud of their work.”
Dex smooths out his apron as he straightens. “Alright, lovebirds. Coffee, water, both?”
“Both, please,” I say quickly, suddenly parched.
Knox nods. “Same.”
“Awesome. I’ll grab your menus too. Unless you’d rather just trust me to pick something dangerously romantic from the specials board.”
He winks, then spins on his heel and heads toward the kitchen’s swinging doors, leaving behind a trail of glittery chaos.
Knox and I both burst out laughing, our shoulders bumping, the post-hot-beach-make-out tension between us breaking like a wave against the dock.
“I swear,” I say, dabbing tears from the corner of my eyes. “He’s too much.”
Knox chuckles, threading his fingers through mine beneath the table. “I mean, we did agree to be exclusive this summer.” His thumb brushes the inside of my wrist. “So why not be a couple? While we’re in our little bubble.”
I glance down at our hands, at how easily mine nestles into his, then lift my gaze, heart fluttering. “I wouldn’t mind that.”
“Perfect. Then it’s official.” Knox gently draws my hand to his lips and presses a slow, smoldering kiss to the inside of my wrist. “We’re a bubble couple.”
My breath catches.
And while the kittens mewl softly beside us, the rest of our world goes still.
CHAPTER 14
Knox
“Sounds like you really like her.”
Mont’s measured assessment hums through the line as though he’s analyzing a blueprint I never meant to hand over.
