I have to kiss him again.
“Love you, too,” he sighs as the devil himself pulls up beside Becca’s SUV outside.
We step out on the deck and I wave to Becca as Jett takes off toward the car where Max stands, grinning like a fool.
“Heading out, little man?” Jesse asks, hopping out of his truck.
“Yep! Bye, Dad!” He barely even glances Jesse’s way before he climbs into and pulls the car door shut behind himself.
“Dude, really?” Jesse lifts his hands and, though I can’t see Jett anymore, Becca laughing behind the wheel is hard to miss.
She powers down her window and wrinkles her nose beneath her sunglasses. “You just got dissed!”
“Uh huh.” Jesse props his hands on his hips. “I see how I rate.”
Becca chuckles. “I’ll bring him back tomorrow night. Enjoy the time alone.” Waggling her eyebrows, she rolls the window back up and backs around Jesse’s truck to leave.
I smile and crook my finger from the porch. “Come inside, frat boy. I’ll give you his share of love, too.”
He swivels a raised eyebrow my way and has his shirt off before he even hits the steps.
“How much time do we have before dinner’s done?” he asks between kisses as he backs me toward the stairs.
“Twenty minutes,” I pant against his lips and then giggle when he sweeps me up off the ground and jogs upstairs to our bathroom.
“Missed you today.” His hands and mouth are everywhere, just like mine on him, and before I know it, we’re both naked and beneath the hot spray of the shower.
“Missed you, too.” I pepper his chest with kisses, loving extra on the tattoo, while he lifts me against the cool wall, just enough to—“Ahhhh.”
“Been thinking about this all day,” he grunts, as his hips flex and he pumps in and out of my body, like he owns it. Which, of course, he does. “Gonna be quick,” he warns, stroking my clit with his thumb just how I like it.
Little does he know, I’ve been thinking about this all day, too, and I come in record time. He’s right behind me, skin slapping against skin, until he gives a low, guttural groan and spills himself deep inside.
“Have I told you how much I love fucking you?” he asks after he sets me back on my feet and we make quick work of cleaning up, him more so than me, since he worked in the dirt all day.
“Only about a hundred times this week. But if you wanted to tell me more often, I wouldn’t complain.”
“Good. Because I like it. A lot.” He slaps my ass as we climb back out of the shower, dry off, and dress in fresh clothes. “I’m also starving. Kinda glad Jett’s not here, so I can eat his share, too.”
I laugh, and we head downstairs just as the air fryer goes off.
“You want to eat on the patio tonight?” he asks, grabbing plates and silverware from the cupboard while I take out the chicken.
“Ooh, good call. Can we put the twinkle lights on?”
He smirks. “It’s still light outside, babe.”
“So? It’s romantic.” And it’ll set the mood for what I want to talk to him about, too.
“Whatever makes you happy.” He drops a kiss to my temple before grabbing the pasta salad, a beer, and a bottle of water from the fridge.
“Why don’t you take our drinks out back and get the table situated? I’ll be out in a minute with our plates.”
“You sure?”
“Uh huh.”
“All right.” He grabs the bottles and heads for the patio, calling back over his shoulder, “I suppose you want music, too, huh?”
“You know it, frat boy. Gotta set the mood.”
He flashes another grin and disappears outside.
I follow a few minutes later with our plates and a surprise. I know I’m about to go against tradition, but Jesse and I have never been traditional and it’s one of the things I love most about us.
We eat at the table beneath the pergola, draped with white twinkling lights and overlooking the pine plantation in the distance. The sky is still mostly blue, but streaks of gold and pink move in slowly, painting a picture that always brings to mind those summer nights we spent together so long ago. Memories that I get to relive every day now.
“What are you thinking?” Jesse asks quietly after he swallows his last bite of dinner and reaches for his beer.
“Just enjoying the view.” I pull in a deep breath as the breeze teases my hair against my face and the