Page 119 of Something Spontaneous

I giggle as he tries to set me down. I remain holding onto him with my legs, committing to never letting go of him again.

“Yes, we can do that.” I kiss his stubbled cheek again, and this time, I do lick that dimple. “I want this to be your home, too.”

EPILOGUE

SLY

One Year Later

“Are you sure this is what you want?”

“Yes, Bunny. I’m positive.” Her whiskey eyes watch me curiously. Those were the eyes that haunted my dreams, my sleepless nights, and every other moment I had to myself for years. Her gaze is the one I worried I would never see again, much less directed at me with the love and affection I thought I’d lost forever.

She smirks at me, holding the leash wrapped around her fist.

“Okay. I want to be sure you’re ready for this. This is a really big commitment. We’ve gone over this—there’s not a lot of room back there.”

I nod, still kneeling in front of her. “Yes, I know. I’m ready for this. I want to do this—with you.”

“Alright, remember that it’s a tight squeeze and I’m speaking from years of experience.”

I roll my eyes and hold out a hand. “Give me the leash already.”

She laughs and dangles it in front of my face. “Alright. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

I snatch it from her and snap the metal end onto the ring of the collar.

“Look at you, Daddy,” she says with that tone that is far too sultry for this moment, biting her lip and trying in vain to hide her grin. My gaze lands on where her teeth dimple her bottom lip, and I can barely focus on anything else when she calls me that. I know that’s a vulnerability for her, and to hear her say it out loud still does unmentionable things to me, even if this is hardly the time or place to think about that.

“Do you guys need a minute?” Three sets of eyes land on Heather, the dog rescue’s adoption coordinator. She gives us an awkwardly amused look and hitches a thumb over her shoulder toward the rescue’s office. “I can leave you and Sparky alone while I finish the adoption paperwork.”

“Yeah, that’d be great,” I say, standing up and giving our new dog, Sparky, a few scratches behind his ears. “As much as we’d love to stay a bit longer in South Lake Tahoe, we do have to get back on the road tonight.”

Heather smiles and turns, heading back to the office, leaving Josie and me in the small room that I gather is used for meet and greets with potential adopters. Bringing a dog into our comfortable, albeit cramped, life on the road wasn’t part of our plans for visiting Lake Tahoe, but then I talked to TJ and Grace when we were in Wyoming last weekend for Sutton and Kelsey’s wedding. When Grace mentioned the animal shelter that their foundation now funds, it suddenly felt like a stop I needed to make. They said this place was special to them, and it didn’t take me long to figure out why. After a few minutes of scrolling through the dogs’ profiles on their site, we knew Sparky was supposed to be part of our lives the second we saw the Aussie Shepherd-Blue Heeler mix.

When the door closes behind Heather, Josie kneels in front of me with our new furry roommate sitting between us, his tongue hanging out.

“Who’s a good boy?” she coos, ruffling his fur and prompting him to roll onto his back. “Yeah, you like belly rubs? I hope your Daddy knows what he signed us up for because it’s about to get very cozy in our van.”

“You know, I’m almost kind of jealous of him.”

She lets out a curious hum. “Which part? That I called him a good boy or that he’s getting all my attention?” She waggles her brows. “Or that he’s wearing a collar at the end of a leash instead of me?”

“Fuck,” I growl, quietly thanking no one in particular that Heather left the room.

Yeah, we should not be allowed in public settings unsupervised. Then again, that’s how most of the last year has gone for us. We are hardly ever appropriate, just like we were as hopelessly in love teens. Even though we’ve spent every waking moment together, it still feels like there’s never enough time in the day for us to make up for the ten years we lost. That doesn’t mean I’ll ever stop trying.

“All of the above.” I kneel back down, joining Josie in giving Sparky some belly rubs. A contented growl rumbles from his chest as he starts to kick when one of us scratches that magic spot. A surprisingly light-hearted laugh escapes me, almost catching me off-guard.

“You already love him, don’t you?”

I look up to find Josie beaming at me. “Yeah, I think I do. Especially since he’s not named after my damn uncle.”

She snorts a laugh, making her face scrunch and bringing my gaze to her freckles. “Yeah, I always thought that was weird, but speaking of your uncle and your family—we do need to get on the road soon if we’re going to see the rest of them in Sterling Springs for The Hatch Festival.” She looks down at Sparky and smiles, rubbing his belly again. “And now, a lot more potty breaks that your dad agreed to handle if we got you.”

“You know damn well you’re still going to be the reason we have to make all the bathroom stops on the road.” I arch a brow and pretend to shoot her an annoyed scowl, but it’s impossible for me to be anything but madly in love with her.

While we’ve spent most of the last year on the road making up for lost time, we still found time to see my family and occasionally stop back in Sterling Springs. We’ve seen my oldest brother, Slade, who’s busy opening another restaurant, a shock to no one. We’ve caught up with my Uncle Dan since he came back to town to help at the garage until Dad finally hired someone. Thankfully, our visits have been uneventful, even if we have seen Meredith at The Hatch.