“Until my parents get back, and my mum’s fussing over you.”
“Your mum is amazing.”
He gives me a smile. Although she does drive him crazy sometimes, he does know how lucky he is. I would envy their relationship if she didn’t treat me like one of her children, same as Freddy.
I sip my drink. “Do you think we’ll still be here on my next birthday?”
“We’ll have to go home between, Savannah. I can’t live with my parents for longer than a couple of days.”
Rolling my eyes at the idiot I love so much, I carefully bump against his side, as I don’t want to risk spilling my alcohol. “You know what I mean. I’ve not really allowed myself to look too far ahead.”
“We can be wherever you want to be in a year.”
Okay, he said we. That’s good. I mean, I know we’re not just messing around here, but sometimes, I really need to hear it. I love knowing that he’s on the same page and planning a future.
He’s probably not planned our wedding—guilty!—but I think he knows we’re headed there if things continue the way they have been. It’s a natural progression, right?
“I think I would like to come here again. Spend some time with your family … and then fly to Paris or the Maldives.”
“Paris or the Maldives?”
“I’ve always wanted to visit the Maldives and stay in one of those rooms on the ocean. But it’s super expensive, so Paris it is.”
Kent’s lips purse.
“What?” I ask. Where’s his head? “Oh.” Okay, duh! “You have all the money.”
“I do not have all the money, Savannah,” he says, laughing. “But I have more than enough to whisk my girlfriend to the Maldives for her birthday.”
My stomach ties in a very big knot. I turn to Kent and press my palm against the ache in my stomach. “I don’t expect you to pay for everything.”
“I know … but I like to.”
Why the hell did I mention expensive holidays? And is it bad that I want to casually mention my love for Lamborghinis?
“I’ll let you take me on an expensive holiday if you let me pay for a dinner.”
His eyes narrow as he realises I have him there.
“You can’t love my independence and want to pay for everything at the same time.”
His eyes become slits. “You’re being impossible again.”
“No, I’m not. Let me treat you to dinner, and I’ll let you take me away.”
“Can I have anal, too?”
My hand flies before I really register what I’m doing. I slap him on the arm. Laughing, he steps back, but it’s too late.
“I’ll think about it.”
“You’ll think about it?” His voice is about a bazillion octaves higher than usual.
Simon wasn’t adventurous in bed. I’ve never really tried anything in that region, so the idea is a little intimidating.
“I will think about it,” I confirm.
“Hell, babe, I’ll take that!”
“What a surprise.”
Taking my hand, Kent leads me down to the stream. It’s about three meters wide, so I could jump it, but I don’t know who owns the land on the other side. I don’t want to piss off his parents’ neighbours … or be eaten by dogs.
“Come here.” He takes my drink from my hand and places it on the grass. He lies down and looks at me. “You going to stay up there?”
I have a dress on, but, yeah, whatever. I sit down and then lay my upper body against him. His arm winds around me, holding me close. Trees next to the stream blow gently in the light wind. It’s so peaceful. I close my eyes and cuddle into Kent’s chest.
His hand finds its way into my hair. He seems to like my hair a lot.
“Growing up, we spent a lot of time here, in the stream. There’s a tree farther down that we tied a tyre to. You couldn’t jump in though, as it’s shallow and you’d probably break your back.”
Note to self: don’t jump into the stream.
“I’ll give that a miss then.”
“No way. Next summer, you’re getting in with me.”
A smile tugs at my lips. “You just want to see me in a bikini.”
“Yeah.” Laughing, he kisses the top of my head. “When we have kids, we’ll have to bring them here.”
My heart leaps … and then kind of hides. He said the words so casually, like he was telling me what he had for lunch.
So, he’s, like, really all in. More in than me because I haven’t moved past our stunning outdoor boho wedding yet. But I have a feeling it’s not going to take me long to catch up.
Two kids. Or maybe three.
Bam, I’m there.
He kisses the top of my head again, still running his hand through my hair. “I love you, babe,” he whispers as the sun shines down on us.
“I love you, too,” I breathe.
We stay like that for a while, not talking but not needing to. After a while, the breeze starts to overtake the heat coming from the sun, so we get up and head back to the house, ready for everyone to arrive. Judy and Harrold are there when we enter the kitchen.
“Hey,” Harrold says.
“Savannah, there you are, darling.” Judy dashes around Harrold and opens her arms.
I manage to put my empty glass down before she reaches me.
“Hi, Judy,” I say, hugging her back. “I found the Prosecco. You sure meant it when you said you’d grab a load of bottles.”
She pulls back. “I never joke about alcohol, darling.”
“Hi, Mum. I’m fine, thanks,” Kent says sarcastically.
Judy ushers us into the living room with drinks, and then she and Harrold cook. When Heidi turns up, we outnumber Kent and get to put on a chick flick.
Although he hates the movie, he hasn’t moved from my side. His hand is playing with my hair and massaging the back of my head. It’s the most blissful distraction. Sighing, I lay my head on his shoulder and curl into his side.
I feel him smile against the top of my head as he kisses me.
“Dinner’s ready!” Judy announces shortly after the movie finishes.
“Good, I’m starving,” Kent says, getting to his feet. He bends over, takes my hands, and pulls me up. “Come on, birthday girl, let’s get you fed before you get hangry.”
Falling against his chest, I squeeze his hands. “I do not get hangry.”
“Oh, yeah, you do.” He presses his lips to mine, but before things can get out of control, which they often do, I back away.
“Come on, put her down,” Heidi says, laughing on the way past.
“I don’t want to,” he replies, wrapping his arms around my back, so I can’t move.
Laughing, I push onto my tiptoes and kiss him again. “I’m getting hangry,” I warn.
“All right, I’m letting go.” He does, but then he takes my hand, and we walk into the dining room. They have a table in the kitchen, too, but so far, I’ve not eaten at it.
I take a seat between Kent with Judy and Harrold at the ends. Heidi sits opposite me.
“This all looks … like a lot,” I say, eyeing the six dishes in the middle of the table.
Kent and Heidi laugh.
“You can’t have a small pre-birthday dinner, darling,” Judy says.
“No, you can’t have a small pre-birthday dinner,” Harrold teases, lifting his glass to his wife.
I wonder if this is how me and Kent will be one day. I see a lot of similarities between his parents and us already. Let’s hope so because they’re close, and they always have each other’s backs.
“How are you feeling about being another year older?” Judy asks, ignoring Harrold.
“Er, fine, I think.”
“Of course you are. You’re still in your early twenties,” Heidi pipes in, pouting.
“Time to find a husband, darling,” Judy tells her daughter.
Heidi rolls her eyes. “I don’t need a man, Mum.”
“No, but it would be nice.”
“For me or you?”
Judy smirks. “Me. I want grandbabies. Lots of them.”
Kent tenses beside me. He has nothing to worry about because, although we want children, it’s a long way off. I’m so not ready to be pregnant.
I turn to him. “Breathe.”
He gives me a look. “I’m fine.”
“No, you weren’t,” I reply, digging in as everyone else does. “You were freaking.”
“You were freaking,” he mutters in reply.
“Good comeback.”
“Eat, Savannah. You’re becoming even more impossible.”
I dump a spoonful of mashed potatoes on my plate and catch Judy watching us with tears in her eyes. I reach out and put my hand over hers, making her take a deep breath. A silent understanding passes between us. I won’t break his heart.
28
Kent
Savannah is still asleep beside me. She’s only the second woman I’ve had in my room back at my parents’. I thought that Freya’s memory would be everywhere in here forever, but the second Savannah stepped over the threshold, Freya disappeared.
Savannah’s chest rises and falls softly, the back of her head resting on my chest.
Last night was amazing. She’s never said much about being part of my family after I blurted it out a while ago, but I know she truly felt it last night. The way she kept looking at me and then at my parents and sisters made my heart swell. I don’t care that she never wants to talk about her family anymore—maybe she will want to one day—but I’m not going to wait for it or waste another minute with worrying what happened. She’s mine, ours, now, and that’s all that matters.
She stirs beside me, and then two grey eyes flick open. “Morning,” she whispers.
“Happy birthday,” I reply. “How does twenty-three feel?”
Frowning, she replies, “Hmm, same.”
“Yeah? What if I give you your first birthday present now, and we see how you feel after that?”
“Savannah! Are you awake yet?” Heidi shouts from outside my door. “Happy birthday, hon!”
Sighing, Savannah sits up. “Thanks. I’ll be out in a minute, Heidi.”
I grip her arm. “Wait. No, you won’t.”
“Your sister is calling me.”
“Go away, Heidi!” I yell.
“No, it’s Savannah’s birthday, and we’re ready to start the festivities.”
“Well, we’re not.”
“Oh my God,” Savannah snaps, whacking my chest. “I’m not having sex with you when your family is waiting downstairs for us.”
“Why not?”
“That was rhetorical, yes?”
“Breakfast is almost ready,” Heidi says. Her voice is muffled, like she’s right against the door.
Fucking family.
I close my eyes and groan. “We should have stayed at mine and driven here after sex.”
“Come on. Get up, sunshine. It’s clearly time to celebrate my birthday.”
My eyes are still closed, but I feel the mattress dip as she rolls out of bed.
“Can I at least give you your present before we go down?”
“Kent, we’re not having sex!”
I flick my eyes open. “I mean, your real present.”
“Well …” she says in a flirty voice as she saunters around the bed toward me. She’s still totally naked, so I can’t guarantee I won’t get carried away. “That you can do.”
Reaching into my bedside table, I pull out the shoebox I stashed there yesterday. “Okay, so I didn’t really know what to get you, and Toby and Max just kept suggesting sex toys, so …” I hand her the box, and her eyes widen in fear. “There are no sex toys in there, Savannah.”
Shrugging her shoulder, she replies, “Shame.”
“What? You were just scared.”
“Of what they would suggest, not of you picking some things. I have faith that you wouldn’t get some double-ended dildo and expect us to use it.”
Flopping back against the pillows, I laugh. “That was Toby’s suggestion.”
She rolls her eyes and climbs back onto the bed. “Of course it was.” Lifting the lid, she drops it on the quilt, and her breath catches in her throat. “Kent. Oh, wow. This is …”
She clamps her mouth shut and looks up at me from the box. I’ve not known her too long but long enough to know a few of her favourite things. Believe me, I’ve been paying attention.
Inside the box is a voucher for a spa day with treatments included since she said she’d love to do that. It’s for two, and I’m hoping she’s going to want to take Heidi. There’s also her favourite dark grey nail polish and light-pink lipstick, a DVD of Twister—which she told me was her favourite movie when she was a teenager—a new iPod since hers is ancient, a Tiffany bracelet that she and Heidi were gushing about in a magazine when I was fitting the storeroom out, Haribo, and Dolly Mixtures because those are her favourite sweets.
Her eyes zone in on the smaller pale blue box. “Kent …”
“Just open it, Savannah.”
She lifts the lid. “How did you know?”
“I’m observant.” Even when I thought I didn’t like her, I was watching. Everything she said or did, I remember. I guess I should have figured it out sooner.
“I love it. All of it.”
Her grey eyes gloss over like she’s fighting emotion. It feels fucking great, I have to say.
“You’re welcome.”
“You didn’t need to get me so much, but thank you for not going ridiculously crazy.”
I playfully narrow my eyes. “It wasn’t easy,” I tell her. “I want to give you the world.”
“Kent,” she breathes, shaking her head, “I just want you.”
I lean over and kiss her because, fucking hell, she’s amazing. “Are you ready for your birthday breakfast?” I ask against her soft lips.
She sits back and takes the bracelet out of the box. Slipping it onto her wrist, she nods. “I am now. I’m looking forward to seeing what your mum’s done, but I’m concerned that I won’t be able to eat it all.”
I get out of bed and reach for my clothes. “Oh, you definitely won’t be able to eat it all.”
No one would be able to. Mum could cater for eating contests, and they wouldn’t be able to finish it.
She looks over her shoulder and grins. Her back is to me as she stands to get dressed. But, right now, she’s naked, and her soft, lightly tan skin is begging to be worshiped.
I love it when she’s like this. It’s not even just the fact that she’s naked; it’s how confident she is while she struts around in her birthday suit. It’s sexy as hell.
Bending down, she scoops up her bra.
I squeeze my eyes closed. Jesus. “Any chance you want to be extra late to breakfast?”
With a laugh, she spins around and covers her breasts with the damn bra. “No, your mum is an awesome cook.”
“Hey”—I frown—“I’m an awesome fuck.”
Savannah shakes her head in discouragement, but she doesn’t disagree. She can’t because we both know I’m killer in bed. All the scratch marks on my back prove it.
“When we get back to mine, I expect you to provide me with a lot of birthday orgasms. Right now, we have things to do.”
She slips on a pair of jeans and a top, and I do the same. I tug socks onto my feet in a huff. We might have had sex twice last night, but I want her again, and it’s going to be ages before we’re alone.
I want to spend the day making her come.
“Kent!”
Looking up from her arse, I mutter, “What?”
“Let’s go down.”
Right. I round the bed and hold out my hand. “Sorry, I got distracted.”
“I like you getting distracted.” She presses her body against mine and rises on her tiptoes until we’re the same height. “I love knowing that you’re desperate to get inside me, and I love it more when you have to wait. Makes you way grabbier when we’re alone.”
&nbs
p; “Way grabbier?” I repeat, smirking and pulling her flush with my body.
Her cheeks blush. “Yeah.”
“You like when I’m grabby, huh?”
“A lot. It makes me so hot when you can’t wait. The second we’re alone, and you slam me against a door or wall or tug my clothes off … yeah, I like that.”
I clear my throat as my dick swells in my jeans. “Right. Well, after that, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed later.”
She backs away, putting a foot of distance between us. “You never disappoint, Kent. Let’s go eat our body weight in food. You’re going to need a lot of energy.”
I follow her out of my room and onto the landing. “Oh, baby, you’re the one who’s going to need a lot of energy.”
I’m so fucking excited right now. I watch her walk down the stairs, knowing how today is going to end, and I just want to press fast-forward. My heart thumps as she looks over her shoulder on the way down. She’s fucking beautiful.
We enter the kitchen, and I see Mum has outdone herself again.
“Wow, this looks amazing,” Savannah says, her eyes wide as she takes in the food on the kitchen table. “I thought last night’s dinner was big.”
“This is how birthdays are done, babe.”
She turns to me, smiling. “We’re eating here?”
“Yep, closer to the coffee.”
My mum always goes way out for birthdays. And Christmas. And Easter. And Halloween.
The table is full of freshly baked pastries, stacks of toasts, platters of bacon and sausages. She has bowls of beans and rosti potatoes, mushrooms, and a warm plate of fried eggs.
There will be seven of us for breakfast, but there’s enough food for double.
“Happy birthday, darling,” Mum says, turning from the fridge and embracing my girl in a hug that’s probably preventing her from breathing.
Savannah hugs her back though, a smile warming her face. “I can’t believe you went to so much trouble, Judy. You didn’t have to.”
Mum lets her go and waves her hand. “It was no trouble. Come and sit down.”
I take Savannah’s hand and lead her to the seat next to mine. My parents are creatures of habit, so we all have our usual places around the table. Thankfully, the chair next to mine has yet to be claimed.
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