Josh and I both snapped our heads over toward him.

“He slept that whole time?” Josh asked.

Elizabeth laughed and handed Libby to me. “Pretty much. Once all the paperwork was signed, the prince and princess woke up, demanding food, and then they nodded back off to sleep.”

“What the hell? They never do that for us,” Josh said.

I laughed as I watched Elizabeth shrug her shoulders and smile.

“Wait. What paperwork were you signing?” Josh asked.

My heart started beating so fast. I’d been dying to tell Josh, but his parents had made me promise not to say a word.

Elizabeth walked up and kissed Greg so sweetly on the lips that it caused me to look away. She pulled away and smiled at Josh. “Oh, it’s nothing really. We just signed on the house we bought.” She turned, reached into a cabinet, and pulled out four wine glasses as Greg grabbed a bottle of wine.

Josh looked at both of them and then at me. The expression on his face was priceless. He was confused as hell.

“Wait. What house? Where?” he asked.

Elizabeth turned around and leaned against the counter. “Oh, the darling little cottage house we bought here in town. It’s about fifteen minutes from here.”

I watched as the smile spread across Josh’s face. I knew how close he was to his parents and how much he missed them. He hated living over an hour away from them.

“Y’all bought a house here?”

At the same time, Greg and Elizabeth both said, “Yep!”

“Holy hell! Mom, Dad…this is wonderful! Oh my god, I’m so damn happy. Wait…Mom, what about the law firm?”

“Well, since I now have two beautiful grandchildren, I’m going to need more time to be the best Grammy ever, so I decided to somewhat retire. I’m going to work from home, but I’m mostly just going to do consulting for the firm. I still own half of it, but I’m just becoming more of a silent partner in it.”

If I didn’t know any better, I would have sworn I just heard my husband let out an eeeppp. He walked up and hugged both of them and then turned to me.

“Surprise number one?” he asked.

I nodded and smiled. “I wanted to tell you so bad.”

He walked up to me, leaned down, and kissed Libby on the forehead. Then, he kissed me and gave me that crooked smile of his.

I wanted him again, and he knew it.

“Oh, princess, I’ve got a few surprises up my own sleeve.”

I smiled and whispered, “Bring it on.”

Ells, Ari, Amanda, and I all sat on Ellie’s back porch as we listened to the music the DJ, Jack, was playing. I felt guilty that we were all drinking, and Ellie was sipping on lemon water.

I looked out and saw the guys, including Smitty and a few other friends of ours, playing tag football. I watched as Scott ran up and jumped on Jeff before he brought him down to the ground.

“Jesus H. Christ, if one of them gets hurt and ruins my twenty-first birthday party, I’m cracking heads,” Ari said.

“Hey, y’all,” Jessie said as she walked up. She started giving everyone a kiss on the cheek.

“Jess! Holy shit, girl. Long time, no see,” Ari said with a laugh.

Jessie sat down and let out a sigh. “Shit. I’m so damn tired that I can’t even think straight. Between still taking classes and working at the vet clinic, I hardly have any downtime. Shit. They have me working so much. I’m pretty much on call twenty-four/seven. Do you know how many damn times people call for me to come watch their dogs give birth? We live in the damn country. They are supposed to be country folk. What the hell?”

Ellie, Amanda, and Ari let out a laugh.

“How about Scott? How are things going there?” I asked.

Jessie’s smile faded for a quick second before she looked out at him while he was running around with the guys.

“I’ve never felt this way before. It’s…It’s…”

“Magical?” all of us said at the same time.

As we all let out a loud laugh, Gunner and Josh stopped and looked at us.

“What’s so damn funny?” Gunner called out.

Ellie smiled. “Just girl talk, babe, but you’re about to be—”

That was when Brad tackled the hell out of Gunner. Josh looked at me and smiled before he jumped on top of Brad.

Jessie let out a breath. “Yes. Magical. But I’ve seen so little of him lately. He’s been busy himself. Jeff and Scott decided to go in on a horse together…a racing horse of all horses.”

Jessie looked at Ari as she rolled her eyes.

“Scott had to leave for Kentucky twice this last month. I hate that we’re just starting off our relationship, and we barely see each other.”

Amanda smiled. “Well, when y’all do see each other, make it count, girl. Get your dirty on…like Heather here.”

I snapped my head over to Amanda. “Amanda! Oh my god!” I felt my face turning hot as I looked at Ells and Ari, who were just smiling. I glanced back at Jessie, who was also smiling. “Do y’all know?” I asked as I glanced back at Ari.

She shrugged her shoulders. “What? You’re like the most innocent one of the group. When you go all Fifty Shades on us…we have to talk about it.”

My jaw dropped, and I just shook my head. “I’m never telling your ass anything ever again, Arianna Johnson. Ever!”

After they all laughed for a good two minutes, Ellie turned to Jessie. “Just make sure y’all find time for each other, Jess. I know how much Scott loves spending time with you.”

Ari sat up and looked at Jessie. “Speaking of loves…has he yet?”

It was Jessie’s turn to turn red. When she nodded, we all let out a squeal.

“How?” I asked before I took a drink of beer.

“Well…he was nervous as all get out. We were just getting back from a picnic that he’d planned. Oh, it was so romantic.” She let out a sigh. “We were walking the horses and just talking, catching up on what was going on in our worlds, and Scott turned and asked me if I wanted to move in.”

Everyone let out a gasp.

“Oh my god! Oh my god!” Ari said as she sat up straighter.

“What did you say?” Ellie asked.

“Well, at first, I was shocked. I mean, that’s a huge step. I asked him if he was sure we were ready for that, and he just busted out and said, ‘Jessica, I love you. All I want to do is spend every waking moment with you.’ And I started crying. I told him…yes!”

“Did you tell him you loved him back?” Amanda asked.

“Yes! I told him I loved him, too, and that I couldn’t imagine my life without him in it.”

Ari and Ellie got up and started jumping up and down, which caused Jeff and Josh to do the same thing. Scott turned, looked straight at Jessie, and smiled. I could see the love in his eyes when he looked at her.

“Y’all don’t think it’s too soon? My father does. He wants me to get my own place.”

“No! It’s not too soon at all. You both love each other, and this way, you will get to see each other more often. Plus, that damn house needs a woman’s touch for Christ’s sake,” Ari said before she downed another beer.

Ellie laughed. “Ari, you’re on your way to getting drunk.”

“Fuck yeah, I am!”

After another hour passed, I watched as Gunner, Jeff, Josh, and Scott all got plastered. Brad was the only one who wasn’t drinking. The plan was for all of us to just crash at Ellie and Gunner’s place, but Brad had told Amanda he felt like one of them should stay in control.

Gunner and Josh had made a dance floor, and Ari and Jeff were cutting up to Shania Twain’s “If You Wanna Touch Her, Ask.”

Then, “Buttons” by The Pussycat Dolls started playing. I grabbed my drunk husband and led him out to the dance floor. When we started moving together, I felt when his dick instantly got hard. As he moved his hands up and down my body, I ached to feel him inside me.

He leaned down and moved his lips up against ear. “I want you so fucking bad. Let’s sneak away, baby.”