The F It List (Love You Forever Book 6)

by Alexis Winter

  With the fan blowing on her, she falls back asleep quickly, but I’m too excited and anxious to go back to sleep. I pull on my jeans, shoes, and a coat, and make my way outside to stoke the fire. I grab a few logs from the pile we stacked up last night and get it burning hot again. Then I go about making some coffee. I pour the water into the metal canister and add the coffee to the screen on the top. Then I set the whole thing on the grill that’s over the fire. While I wait for that to boil, I start getting breakfast together. I take the eggs and bacon out of the cooler. I toss the bacon on the pan and set it next to the coffee. I take my time flipping and turning the bacon. When a piece is done, I take it out of the pan and place it on a nearby paper plate I lined with a paper towel. When the coffee is done, I pour some into a cup and stir in some cream and sugar. I finish with the bacon and add the eggs to cook in the grease.

  As I’m taking the last of the eggs off the skillet, the tent unzips and Cora comes crawling out—her hair a tangled mess.

  “Morning,” I say as she passes me by and flops down in a chair.

  She grunts a response.

  “Want some coffee? It’s decaf.”

  She nods and rubs her eyes, then wraps her coat around herself more tightly. “Ugh, decaf.”

  I pour some coffee into the second cup and add in the cream and sugar I know she likes before handing it over. She cups both hands around it to keep her fingers warm, then raises the cup to her lips. She blows cool air across the top of the hot liquid before taking a small sip.

  “Breakfast is ready. Oh, I feel like an asshole because I made bacon but you shouldn’t eat it if you’re pregnant.”

  She nods and offers a little shrug, “No worries baby, more for you.”

  “Did you sleep well?” I ask, sitting beside her.

  “Yeah, I slept soundly. I’m just groggy. I shouldn’t have gone back to sleep. Now I just wanna sleep all day.” She offers up her sleepy smile.

  I make our plates and we sit around the fire to eat. Slowly but surely, she wakes up and her eyes get a little brighter.

  “What’s the plan for today?” she asks.

  I shrug as I pop a piece of bacon into my mouth. “I thought we might go into town. There’s a little one close by and they have a ton of restaurants and shops on Main Street. Thought we could explore a little.”

  She perks up. “Shopping? Yes, please.”

  I laugh. “Finish eating and we’ll get ready.”

  It doesn’t take long to eat, and I get busy cleaning up while she gets dressed. We’re leaving the campsite an hour later, heading in the direction of the small town. I park the car along Main Street and we both climb out, walking in one direction and taking in the sights.

  The old brick buildings on this street have been well maintained. There are potted plants by the shop doors and the windows are all decorated with a fall theme. We go in and out of the little shops, and stop by a diner for some coffee to warm up. All the shops are privately owned, and all offer something different. We’ve been in clothing stores, shoe stores, jewelry stores, and music shops. We spend the day doing nothing but spending time together and finding unique and interesting things we would never see back in the city. She even insisted on going into a baby store and buying something for Harley’s baby shower that will be coming up soon.

  We don’t make it back to the campground until 5 p.m., and then it’s time to build and light the fire again and start preparing dinner. She decides to take a shower while I get things ready. Cooking over a fire is nothing like cooking on a stove. The wind changes the placement of the heat on the pan and you have to constantly watch it to make sure nothing is burning. I get the eggs boiling, open the can of beans to place on the grill, and prep the steak.

  Cora is back about an hour later, but I notice she took the time to blow-dry her hair. She puts her things back in the tent then comes to stand next to the fire at my side.

  “Everything smells great.”

  I nod and pull her closer, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “How was the shower?”

  “Boring without you,” she says, moving in a little closer and causing me to let out a low chuckle.

  There’s a long silence before she finally asks, “Are you mad at me?”

  I look down and meet her eyes. “No, why would you think that?”

  She shrugs. “You yelled at me this morning. Is there something in your bag you don’t want me to see?”

  I try to think of a way to answer without giving anything away.

  “Yes,” I finally force myself to say.

  She takes a sudden breath. “What? Please tell me you’re not a drug addict trying to hide your stash.” Her eyes are wide and I can see the seriousness on her face, making me laugh harder than before.

  “What? Why are you laughing at me?”

  I’m laughing too hard to answer. I just shake my head and laugh some more.

  “What? Seriously, Grayson. What is in your bag?”

  I have to hold my stomach, it’s so sore from laughing. She’s so serious and getting more and more angry the longer I laugh. Finally, she just stops and waits for me to finish. Slowly, my laughing dies down. She waits for an answer with her hands on her hips as she glares at me.

  My laughing now finished, I have to catch my breath. When I finally do, I say, “I’m not a drug addict,” I giggle again. “But there is something in my bag I didn’t want you to see this morning. It’s a surprise for you,” I tell her.

  “Oh,” she says, her arms falling back to her sides as her back straightens. “Okay, well . . . when do I get this surprise?” She smiles but it’s awkward.

  “I was thinking tonight, after dinner. When we’re sitting around the fire,” I say, moving closer to her again. My hands find her hips and I pull her until her chest is pressing against mine. We’re nose-to-nose now as we look into each other’s eyes.

  “Will I like this surprise?”

  “I hope so,” I say, leaning in just a little closer.

  “Can I have a hint?” Her smile widens, becoming sweeter.

  “Hmm,” I mumble, thinking it over. “What will I get if I give you a hint?”

  “I’ll give you a kiss,” she says, using her overly-sweet voice.

  “I’ll need some convincing,” I reply, waiting as she leans in and presses her lips to mine. She gives me a long, soft, slow kiss. Then she pulls back and her eyes find mine as she waits for her hint.

  “This surprise will last a lifetime,” I say.

  “It will last a lifetime?” she asks. I can already see her brain working out what it could be.

  “Yep.”

  “Can I have another hint?”

  “Nope,” I say, pulling away and going back to the food on the fire.

  “If I guess it correctly, will you tell me?”

  “Nope.”

  “Is it a car?”

  I snort. “Yeah, I fit a car in my backpack.”

  “Oh, I forgot it was small enough to be in your backpack,” she says, sitting in the chair next to the fire. “Keys to a car?”

  “Nope.”

  “Keys to a new house?”

  That would’ve been good, but one step at a time. “Nope.”

  “Is it dessert? You know how much I like dessert after dinner.”

  I laugh. “No, but I do have dessert. Lava brownies. They’re in the cooler.”

  “Is it . . .” she starts.

  “Stop guessing. You’ll ruin the surprise.”

  “How will I ruin it if you won’t tell me anyway?”

  “Because all the stuff you’re guessing is way better than the actual surprise. I don’t want you to get your hopes up.”

  “All right,” she finally says, getting up and going to the cooler. She pulls out a water bottle, but I stop her.

  “Wait, I got you something.” I grab a bottle of Martinelli’s and pour some into both of our glasses.

  “Ooh, sparkling cider? This is a special night, huh?”

  I smile.
“It will be,” I say. “Hopefully, anyway,” I add on quietly enough that she doesn’t hear.

  Dinner’s ready and we both make our plates and dig in. The steak is cooked perfectly and we both eat everything on our plates. The moment dinner is cleaned up, she looks at me and says, “So, the surprise?”

  I laugh and shake my head. “Go get my backpack,” I say, and she goes rushing into the tent. She grabs it and hurries back, handing it over.

  I take it and set it on the ground, then kneel down to dig through it. I’m sure that to her, it just looks like I’m looking through my bag, but I’m actually kneeling down to ask her to marry me.

  “You know,” I start as I’m digging, “when we started the whole list thing, I’d hoped it would bring us together, but never in a million years did I think it actually would.”

  “Aww,” she says, still completely clueless about what I’m doing.

  “Being with you these last few months has been better than I ever thought possible. I never imagined you’d give me the time of day, but once you did, I knew I’d do anything and everything to make you see that there could be so much more between us.”

  “You have. I don’t know where I’d be right now without you.”

  “The truth is, I don’t know where I’d be without you, Cora. You saved me from so much more than just lonely nights. You’ve given me your friendship, your love, your honesty, and your commitment. And that’s why I brought you all the way out here in the middle of nowhere to ask you this.”

  I pull the box out of my bag and hold it up. Her eyes lock in on it and they widen. Her lips part as her breathing picks up. “Will you marry me, Cora?”

  Her eyes start to water, but other than that, she looks to be completely frozen. I can’t even tell if she’s breathing. All I know is that from the moment those words left my lips, my breathing stopped. I know I won’t take another breath until she gives me an answer.

  The tears are running down her cheeks now, but she still hasn’t answered. “You . . . you . . .” she cries out. “Want to marry me? Like marry me for real? Wedding dress and flowers and all of that?”

  I smile and nod. “I want all of that . . . with you.”

  Tears are flowing hot and heavy down her cheeks, but her lips turn up into a smile and she breathes a sigh of relief. “Of course I’ll marry you!” she says around giggles.

  I smile to myself then slide the ring onto her finger. I quickly stand up and pull her against me, where her lips press against mine. I kiss her long and hard until I’m completely breathless. When I pull back, her blue eyes are sparkling, glistening with unshed tears as she looks down at her left hand and the ring I just slid onto her finger. “This is beautiful! Oh my God, it’s gorgeous. I can’t wait to show Harley.”

  I laugh. “Well, she sort of helped me pick it out.”

  She looks back up at me. “Aww, you asked her for help? That’s so sweet. And I can’t believe she was able to keep it a secret. When did you go?” Her eyes are back on mine now.

  “Uh, the day I asked you about this camping trip.”

  Her eyes widen. “That was, like, two weeks ago!”

  I laugh and nod. “Yeah, I had to wait for the tent to come in, plus I needed time to get everything planned.”

  “That’s why she’s been avoiding me!”

  “She’s been avoiding you?”

  “For the past two weeks, she’s refused to stay on the phone with me. She’d answer the phone to make sure everything was okay, but before we could really talk, she’d have some excuse to hang up. She didn’t want to spill the secret,” she laughs out. “I guess we were both hiding something from each other.”

  “I’m impressed she didn’t let it slip. Although you almost blew the whole thing this morning.”

  She laughs. “I’m so glad I didn’t. This was perfect.” She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls my lips back to hers.

  I kiss her and my eyes flutter closed. My hands find her hips and I pull her closer. Her hands run down my chest to my stomach and then start moving back up, under my shirt. I break our kiss and pull back, studying the look in her eyes.

  “Take me to the tent, fiancé.”

  I smile and pick her up against me as she wraps her legs around my hips and her arms around my neck. I walk the couple of feet back to the tent and fall to my knees to lower the zipper. She lets her legs loose and breaks our kiss, crawling into the tent on her hands and knees. I crawl in after her, only pausing long enough to zip the tent back up. When I turn to face her, she’s already on the air mattress, stripping out of her clothing. I rip off my jacket and pull my shirt over my head, dropping both on the floor before crawling up her body where our lips can meet again.

  Twenty-One

  Cora

  “I’m engaged!” I practically yell at Harley over the phone on our ride home.

  She squeals into my ear and we both laugh and cheer together.

  “Good job keeping that secret for so long.”

  She laughs. “The only way I managed it was by not talking to you. I’m sorry we haven’t really talked in a couple weeks, but I didn’t want to ruin it and I knew I would if we did.”

  “Don’t worry about it. It was worth it.”

  “So, time to plan another wedding?”

  The thought makes my stomach drop. “Nah, I think we’ll do something a little less traditional.” I look at Grayson as he’s driving the car, and he quickly turns to looks at me. “Something like . . . Vegas? Hawaii? A campground?” I’m only joking on that last one.

  “Yes! Vegas is awesome! Do it right and you’ll even remember it, unlike Foster and me.”

  I laugh as I hear Foster in the background. “Hey, I remember it. Well, most of it, anyway,” he says, his voice echoing through the phone.

  “I don’t know. We haven’t discussed it much yet. But we will. There’s no rush. All that matters is that we end up together.”

  “I know you will. He’s the one, Cora. The only one,” Harley says, voice full of certainty.

  “I know,” I agree, smiling over at Grayson even though he’s paying attention to the road and doesn’t see it.

  Harley and I talk a little longer, catching up on all the stuff we’ve missed over the last two weeks. Eventually, we get off the phone and Grayson and I continue our journey home. We make it back to my place a little after 3 p.m., which gives us enough time to unpack, clean up, get things ready for work tomorrow, and enjoy a little time together.

  He places the last of the camping things on the floor and I turn to look at him. “So, since we’re engaged, when are you moving in?”

  His brows rise and his mouth forms an O. He’s speechless.

  “I mean, we are going to live together throughout this marriage, right?”

  He laughs. “Yes, of course we are. I just didn’t know if you wanted to wait until after it was official.”

  I frown. “No way! The last time I tried doing that, it was all traditional, and look how that worked out. This time, I want it to be whatever we decide is best for us, not what’s supposed to be right.” I walk up to him and put my arms around his neck, pulling him against me.

  His hands land on my hips as his eyes meet mine. “When would you like me to move in?”

  “Right now! Duh. Most of your stuff is already here anyway.”

  He laughs. “That’s because you wouldn’t let me take it home.”

  “That’s because your home is here, with me.”

  He nods as he moves in for a kiss. “My home has always been with you.”

  Over the next week, after work, we go by Grayson’s apartment and pick up more of his stuff and bring it back to my place. He leaves almost everything for his roommate—things like the dishes, TV, and living room furniture. Mostly because if he’d taken them, Chuck would be left sitting and eating at his computer desk, but also because I already had all that stuff, and we had no room to put it anywhere. My apartment is small—only one bedroom—so we don’t even have a second
bedroom to use for storage.

  Once we finally get all his clothes over, I start going through the closet and dresser to clear out some space. My dresser has six drawers, so I clear out three of them, then narrow down the clothes I’ve taken out. Grayson is in the kitchen cooking dinner, and when he comes into the bedroom to tell me it’s done, the room looks like a tornado has blown through it and thrown clothes everywhere.

  His eyes grow in size. “Whoa, what happened here?”

  I look up from my pile. “I’m going through my clothes to make room for yours. What does it look like?”

  He arches an eyebrow. “It looks like your closet threw up,” he laughs out.

  I roll my eyes. “I know it looks like a lot, but it’s really not. I have piles.” I point to the first pile. “This is stuff I’m throwing away—stuff that’s stained or torn up.” I point to the next pile. “These are things I’m donating. It’s stuff that’s still in good condition that I don’t wear anymore.” Then I point to the last pile. “And this is the stuff I’m keeping.”

  He nods. “It looks like the stuff you’re keeping is in a bigger pile that the throwaway or donate pile.”

  I frown at him. “It is, but I’m working on it. I even bought some plastic drawer sets to put at the bottom of the closet for extra clothes, but I don’t know if I’ll have enough room. How much stuff do you have?”

  He shakes his head. “Let’s go eat and I’ll help you with this when we’re done.”

  “You will?” I ask, hopeful.

  He nods and holds out his arm. I drop the sweater I’m holding and go to his side. He wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me against him as he leads me to the kitchen to make our plates. He’s prepared grilled chicken breast that looks like it’s seasoned perfectly. The golden chicken rests on a bed of rice, and it’s paired with steamed veggies.

  “This looks amazing,” I say, picking up my plate and smelling the delicious meal.

  He smiles. “Cross your fingers. I got the recipe off the internet. These kinds of things usually go one of two ways.” He heads into the living room.