“You haven’t even left yet.” The honesty shimmering in his eyes makes my heart clench with affection. “I’ll pick up some stuff for dinner when I go grocery shopping. Come over after you’re off work?”
His eyes crinkle at the corners from how wide he smiles, and he nods definitively before stealing one last kiss.
“I’ll see you then, gorgeous.”
I raise one hand in a lazy wave as he pulls his boots on. I’m still not used to the sight of him in my apartment, and it feels like a dream when he blows me a kiss before heading out. The dreaminess doesn’t fade after the door closes behind him because I can still smell his cologne lingering in the air. I’m sore between my thighs from the hours we spent last night and this morning exploring each other.
I’ve dreamed about this for longer than I’d care to admit, but I never thought it’d be like this. I always figured there would be something difficult about it, but we mesh so well that it feels like we’ve been together for years already. Now, it’s just time to sit back and watch it grow.
I could get used to this.
I don’t get long to bask in the bliss, my ringtone breaking the quiet calm of my kitchen. I step away from my sink and pick my phone up off the little circular table, my heart jumping when I see who’s calling. My cheeks flare with embarrassment, like I was doing something wrong, and my fingers shake a bit as I tap the button to answer her call.
“Oakley!”
“Kenzie, how are you?” she asks, her voice tinny over the phone. “I didn’t wake you up, did I?”
I scratch at the base of my neck with a nervous laugh.
“Oh, no, I’ve been up for a while. I’ve been really good,” I say. “How are you? It’s been ages since we talked!”
“Oh, you know, college is kicking my ass, but I love it. Jamie says hi.” I laugh at the amusement in her voice, returning the greeting. It’s nice to hear Oakley so upbeat—she sounded like hell when I called her while she was still in New York. “It’s been way too long, but now that you’re back home, we’ll have to stay in better touch. Bo mentioned you came to family dinner when you got back into town.”
The mention of Bo coupled with the sly tone of Oakley’s voice makes my heart trip over itself. I babble before I get proper words out.
“Yeah, I, uh, I ran into your mom at the store. She invited me.”
I suppress the childish urge to ask Oakley what Bo said about me. After this morning, I’m pretty sure I know how he feels about me.
“Yeah, she mentioned that too,” Oakley says. “I was just surprised that Bo brought it up. You know how bad he is about keeping anyone updated. It’s like pulling teeth with him.”
I laugh awkwardly, a blush building on my cheeks. If Oakley could see me, she’d know something was up immediately, but I might be able to keep a cool head long enough to convince her nothing is out of the ordinary. Bo and I haven’t talked about telling anyone yet, or really put a label on things.
“He kept talking about how pretty you looked,” Oakley continues teasingly. “He even mentioned yourshoes.”
“Did he?” I ask weakly.
I’m torn between wanting to gush about how excited I am and uncertainty. I shouldn’t say anything before I talk to Bo, but I don’t think he’d do all of this with me if he wasn’t trying to date me.
“Oh, comeon, Kenz, don’t leave me hanging!” Oakley says. “Bo’s never talked about a girl like that before, and we’ve all been waiting for you guys to get together for ages. Did it finally happen?”
My mouth drops open in surprise, and my blush flares about a million times brighter. I wouldn’t be surprised if Oakley could hear my heartbeat through the phone. I always thought her and Phoebe were just teasing me about how obvious my crush on Bo was. They were never mean about it—in fact, it made mefeel closer to them, knowing they could joke with me like that. I never thought they wereserious.
“I—we went on a date. I think we’re dating, or are going to. We haven’t talked about it, but I’m looking forward to finding out.”
Oakley squeals in excitement, babbling about how thrilled she is, and it feels like a huge weight lifts off my shoulders. I didn’t think I was worried about Bo’s family accepting me, but I guess hearing Oakley be so excited about us getting together was exactly what I needed to quell my worries. Now I can only hope I didn’t put my foot in my mouth by saying something so early.
I’m just going to have to trust Bo to do right by me. That comes easily, at least.
Chapter Nine
BO
I never putmuch stock into the concept of rose-colored glasses.
I’ve also never cared about someone enough for their existence to make the entire world look brighter, but Kenzie could melt me if I was completely frozen through. Everything is calmer around her, my racing thoughts and obligations fading into the background. It’s easy to romanticize silly, everyday occurrences when she’s on my mind.
The sunrise has taken on a whole new meaning now that it means a good morning text from her is following shortly. Even going into town to shop has become something new because the feed shop is next to a bakery, and the tack store is across the street from the florist. Everywhere I look, an addition to my daily life pops up, some new way to include Kenzie. I wound up coming back with everything Dad ordered for the ranch, along with a few pastries for Kenzie. I hope they’ll keep well in the fridge until I can see her.
