Page 201 of Where We Stay

By the time we pull into G’s driveway, I’ve managed to keep the contents of my stomach exactly where they belong.

“Thanks for the ride, Mr. Morgan,” G says as she leans forward to kiss my cheek and squeeze Dean’s shoulder. “And thanks for girl time, B.”

“Love you,” I tell her.

“Love you too, drunk bitch.”

We wait in the driveway until she unlocks her front door and disappears inside. Once her porch light switches on, Dean pulls away from the curb.

With G gone, the truck grows quiet. I reach across the console and lace my fingers through Dean’s.

Despite the alcohol clouding my head, the happiness settling inside me feels completely clear.

“I really love my life here,” I murmur.

Dean glances over at me. “Yeah?”

“You. Pen. G. All of it.” I look out the window, watching Hartwell pass beneath the glow of the streetlights. “I think it’s the first place I’ve ever wanted to stay.”

Dean brings my hand to his mouth and presses a kiss against my knuckles before lowering our joined hands between us.

“Go to sleep, baby.”

“I’m not tired,” I argue.

I’m asleep before we make it home.

* * *

I wake the next morning wearing my fluffy winter pajamas, tucked beneath the covers in Dean’s bed.

There’s a hazy memory of sitting on the edge of the mattress while Dean helped me change, insisting I could do it myself before getting both feet stuck in the same pajama leg.

A glass of water and two painkillers are waiting on the bedside table.

I love this man.

Forty

Dean

Iwake up with Blair’s leg thrown over mine and half her body sprawled across my chest.

She’s dead asleep.

Like, dead asleep.

Her mouth is slightly open, her hair is everywhere and there’s a faint black smudge beneath one eye where she clearly didn’t remove all her makeup last night.

Beautiful.

Fucking menace, but beautiful.

I reach carefully across her for my phone.

8:17.

Not bad, considering I didn’t get her into bed until after two. Apparently, tequila turns Blair Morgan into a fucking hornball. The second I stopped the truck, she woke up, climbed onto my lap and told me exactly what she wanted.