“So,” he finally said after what felt like minutes and hours all at once. “You’re here.”
“I told my dad I’m gay.” I rolled my head to the side to see him better.
“How did that go?”
“Not bad, but not well. I guess it went as expected.” I chewed my lower lip between my teeth. “I told him I don’t want the internship. I don’t want to go into politics.”
“Did that go any better?”
“I think he was more upset about that. Or, at least, that affects him more. Or something.”
“Did you tell him you were coming back to Vermont?”
I shook my head and looked back up at his ceiling. “It’s not his business. Just yours and mine.”
Outside, the wind whipped around the house and snow battered the windows. It was coming down as hard, if not harder, than the first night we’d spent together, but this time I was able to do something I’d wanted to do the very first night but been denied.
I rolled onto my side and pressed against him, tucking into the nook of his armpit. I breathed him in, all sweat and sex and pine, and I relaxed against him, confident I’d made the right decision. Jasper tucked his arm around me and sure as shit, it wasn’t long before my body burned with heat.
He kissed the top of my head and I looked up at him, his cheeks flushed and a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
“Earlier you said… you didn’t have a place to stay.”
“Just got into town earlier today.” I smiled back at him. “And it looks like another storm is coming.”
“I meant what I said,” Jasper told me. “You can stay here. Not just… not just for tonight.”
“Are you asking me to move in, Sparky?” I shifted around and pressed up, leaning on my elbow so I could smile down at him. “I don’t have a job or anything. My dad pretty much cut me off.”
“I’m saying you can stay.” He swallowed, eyes bright. “You can find a job or go back to school for something that would make you happy.”
“Does Moo U have an interior design program?” I asked.
I didn’t know if interior design would be it for me. Maybe it would be architecture or maybe it would end up being music after all. What I did know was that for the first time in my life I was able to make my own decisions, my own choices.
And Jasper would be the first choice, and always the best one.
“Both I think.”
“That doesn’t sound bad.” Heat flushed up my throat and I suddenly felt embarrassed to have my own ambitions, my own wants and desires.
“Spring will be here in a few months,” he said, “and it’s my favorite time of the year. Maybe if you were interested in that too, I could share it with you.”
“Jasper.” I smashed our mouths together and kissed him until I couldn’t breathe. “Nothing would make me happier.”
T H E
E N D
Thank you for reading Daybreak by Kate Hawthorne! Do you want to read the bonus epilogue? It’s ready for you!
Click here to see all the books in the Vino & Veritas series! Or turn the page to learn more.
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Daybreak Page 18