Chapter 68 Chapter LXVIII

Chapter 68 Chapter LXVIII
My eyes widen, and my jaw drops as I stare up at him. What is he saying?
“That’s your way of proposing to me?” I ask curiously, biting down on my lower lip. 
“I’m just stating the facts. It remains a secret when it’ll happen. I guess I’ll just surprise you–eventually.” And before I say anything else as a response, Spencer claims my lips with his, kissing me like he hasn’t kissed me in a long time. I melt in his arms, relishing the way my entire body molds to him, the way his tongue plays with mine, and the way my brain stops functioning when he softly bites my lip. I moan quietly against his mouth, throwing my arms around his neck and pulling him nearer.
“I missed you so much,” he murmurs against my lips.
“I missed you more,” I reply, resuming our kiss until someone clears their throat behind us, and we’re forced to pull away from each other. I feel my cheeks burning up as I see a man I don’t recognize, wearing a shirt that reads PRODUCTION on the front, looking anywhere but at us as he waits for Spencer to acknowledge him.
“We need you for the last adjustments, Mr. Bailey,” the guy says, clearly uncomfortable and regretful for interrupting us.
“Of course. I’ll be right there, Mark. Thank you,” Spencer answers, straightening his hair and trying to make it look presentable again. I guess I messed it up more than I intended. 
I smile softly at him when he turns to me, self-conscious of what just happened. “That was… disconcerting,” I note, amused.
Spencer chuckles, pulling me toward him once more and pecking my lips. “Can we talk later? I need to help them out, but maybe we can continue this tonight? My bed feels really big without you in it. Maybe you could solve that.”
I blush ferociously. Spencer has always been straightforward about what he wants, and unexpectedly, I still get caught off guard by it.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” he adds before turning on his heel and walking back toward the stage.
I need a couple more minutes to compose myself, but when I finally return to my mom’s stall, I need to control my stupid grin from giving me away to my family.



It takes me a couple more months to finally write ‘the end’ in my first novel. I stare at the last page, the cursor still blinking lazily on my laptop screen as I realize I really did it. 
I finished my first book! 
A scream escapes my mouth before I realize it, and Chad jumps at my side on the couch, cursing at me when he splashes his cereal and milk all over the shirt of his uniform.
“Fuck, Hays! That was my last clean shirt,” my brother grumbles, rushing to the kitchen to grab a towel. He comes back, still rubbing the wet stain from his chest, staring at me with wide eyes. “What the hell was that about?”
“I finished my novel,” I tell him excitedly, too worked up to control myself.
“Okay…congratulations. But next time, try to give me a heads up. You almost gave me a heart attack.”
“Sorry.” I offer him a sympathetic smile. “I’ll make it up to you when I get my first royalties from this. Although, it is partially your fault since you shouldn’t be eating cereal before breakfast anyway,” I tease.
Chad grimaces, turning back to the kitchen, but I know he’s happy for me. He’s been nothing but supportive this whole time. I can’t say anything bad about him when all he’s done is keep me company and even give me some ideas whenever I was dealing with writer’s block. 
Most days, I stayed at Spencer’s, but since he had to go to Los Angeles to take care of some new contracts, I came back home to spend time with my family and focus on my book. It was really easy to get…distracted whenever I was with Spencer, and I needed to finish this story before the end of the month because I plan on submitting this book for a summer program for aspiring authors.
Spencer told me about it when he heard from a friend in the market back in New York, and I thought it was the perfect opportunity for me to get into the industry on my own merits. Spencer offered to help by introducing me to a few people he knows, but for now, I want to give it a try by myself first. If it doesn’t work out, maybe he can give me a hand. I won’t say no to good networking.
“I think we need to go out tonight and celebrate. Spencer is coming back from LA, and he can meet us there,” I suggest, walking to the kitchen to see Chad still trying to get his uniform clean. I gesture for him to give me the shirt so I can do it. He grumbles in complaint but does as I ask, and I use my cleaning skills to save his last uniform before he has to leave for work.
“I’m off duty tonight, so I’m down for a beer,” he finally answers, sitting on the stool in front of me as I apply some detergent to the stain. “Who else are you calling?”
I look up at him, narrowing my eyes as I study him. His expressionless face pisses me off, but he’s only doing this out of spite. “Why do you want to know?” I ask.
“Am I not allowed to know who I’m hanging out with?” he argues back. 
“Yes, but you sounded too interested in who I’m bringing.”
“So?” He raises his eyebrows at me.
“Do you want to know if Poppy is coming?” I tease, noticing his eyes twitch almost imperceptibly.
“Why would I want to know that?” Chad shoots back, but his eyes dart to the shirt in my hand, and that’s the giveaway I needed.
“Aha!” I point a finger accusingly at him. “You’re into her! I knew it!”
“No, I’m not,” Chad denies vehemently. “Where did you get that nonsense from?”
“You are! You are so into her. I can see it in your eyes,” I yell, rejoicing at my brother’s reaction. His face is so red, up to his forehead, even making his light brown hair look red.
“Who’s into who?” Ryan walks in, followed by Alice and Lauren, who’s obviously just gotten off work since she’s still wearing her bright orange firefighter jumpsuit, her hair tied up in a ponytail.
“Chad likes Poppy,” I blurt out, dodging a slap from my brother. I chuckle, running behind Ryan to protect myself from Chad’s fury.