He Wanted an Open Relationship, So I Accepted Another Proposal Chapter 13

He Wanted an Open Relationship, So I Accepted Another Proposal Chapter 13

After the wedding, Adrian took me back to the Prescott family home.

He went into the kitchen to bake cookies for me himself.

When he finished a tray, the kitchen smelled of butter and vanilla.

He walked out with a little flour still on him.

I was curled up on the couch, half asleep.

When he saw me, he bent down and kissed my forehead.

Then he pulled the blanket higher around me.

I looked up at him.

Sunlight spilled through the floor-to-ceiling windows behind him.

It gave him a soft golden edge.

Even the slight frown he always wore looked gentle.

Suddenly, I felt curious.

Barefoot, I jumped off the couch and walked to the bookshelf.

I crouched down and dragged out a thin keepsake tin.

A little dust covered the lid.

Inside, it was packed full.

None of it was valuable.

There was a crooked paper fortune teller I had folded in elementary school.

There were candy wrappers I had shoved into my desk in middle school.

There was a field-day pin I had once stuck on his shirt.

I couldn’t even remember which event it was from.

The metal had gone black with age, and a few fruit chews had hardened in the tin.

Even a notebook page I had doodled on was pressed flat at the bottom.

On it, I had written, Adrian is a huge idiot.

I pinched a yellowed candy wrapper and looked up at him proudly. “Adrian, you liked me that much?”

His arm came around me naturally.

His chin rested on top of my head.

“Yeah. I liked you.” He paused. “Good. Now you’re mine.”

Sweetness spread through my chest.

But I still refused to admit it.

“Who says I’m yours?”

“No?” He laughed softly.

His palm rested against my lower belly.

Warmth seeped through the fabric.

“Then who was clinging to me last night and saying…”

“Adrian!”

Heat rushed to my ears.

I reached up to cover his mouth.

He dodged with a smile and kissed the corner of my lips.

Outside the window, pigeons fluttered past.

Their wings cut through the quiet afternoon.

I leaned into his arms.

I listened to his steady heartbeat.

The cookies tasted sweet, and his familiar cedar scent filled my nose.

All the tiny joys I had lost when we were young.

All the pieces I thought I would never find again.

He had kept them safe all along.

On one bright afternoon, he returned them to me.

Along with his whole heart.

closed my eyes and nuzzled his warm neck.

Adrian.

Yeah?”

“These cookies are so sweet.”

His low laugh vibrated through his chest.

‘Then I’ll use less sugar next time.”

‘No.” I wrapped my arms around his waist and held him tighter. “They’re perfect just like this.”

Sunlight moved slowly across the room.

The blanket was warm.

The smell of cookies drifted through the air.

it was good.

Perfect, actually.