Chapters (48)
- 1. One
- 2. Two
- 3. Three
- 4. Four
- 5. Five
- 6. Six
- 7. Seven
- 8. Eight
- 9. Nine
- 10. Ten
- 11. Eleven
- 12. Twelve
- 13. Thirteen
- 14. Fourteen
- 15. Fifteen
- 16. Sixteen
- 17. Seventeen
- 18. Eighteen
- 19. Nineteen
- 20. Twenty
- 21. Twenty-One
- 22. Twenty-Two
- 23. Twenty-Three
- 24. Twenty-Four
- 25. Twenty-Five
- 26. Twenty-Six
- 27. Twenty-Seven
- 28. Twenty-Eight
- 29. Twenty-Nine
- 30. Thirty
- 31. Thirty-One
- 32. Thirty-Two
- 33. Thirty-three
- 34. Thirty-Four
- 35. Thirty-Five
- 36. Thirty-Six
- 37. Thirty-Seven
- 38. Thirty-Eight
- 39. Thirty-Nine
- 40. Forty
- 41. Forty-One
- 42. Forty-Two
- 43. Forty-three
- 44. Epilogue
- Afterword
- Also by
- Acknowledgments
- About Author
Biting my lip, I walked back to my car feeling the need to run around like Rudolph after Clarise kissed him. She thinks I’m cute! She thinks I’m cuuute!
That night I went home and settled into bed with a smile plastered on my face—all due to my Little Grinch.
24. Twenty-Four
I hadn’t stopped smiling since last night. I woke up early, went for a run, edited a few podcast sections, and caught up on my reading before anyone else was up. I was showered, dressed, and ready before nine, feeling proud of my accomplishments so early. This morning made me feel like one of those productivity influencers who cleaned their whole house in thirty minutes. Watch out, Aspen—I was getting. shit. done.
When I left my room, Mom was perched on a barstool at the kitchen island. I walked around her to the coffee maker and poured myself a cup.
“You’re in a good mood today,” she observed. I hadn’t realized I was sporting a small smile the whole time. I took a sip of my hot coffee and leaned against the counter.
“I had a good morning.”
Mom had a big grin on her face. “A good night too, I’m assuming?”
“Mom!” It was great having a mother you could always reach out to about anything, but in moments like this I wished she was a little more uncomfortable about the subject.
“I’m just saying you got home late. And with wet hair.”
I squinted at her. “Were you watching us?”
Her bedroom was adjacent to the front porch, and I should’ve assumed her nosy eyes were on us. A mental image of my mom splitting the blinds open and squinting to watch Finn and me while Dad told her to back away came over me.
“I just happened to check if the driveway had snow while you guys were out there.” Sure.
“Well, eavesdropper. If you must know, it was a fun night.” I left it at that, no need to describe any hot tub action I got.
Mom wrapped her hands around her own mug and leaned into it for warmth. “It is so refreshing seeing you like this. I can’t tell you how many times I prayed you would find someone like Finn.”
Of course she did; she was always thinking of her children. Even when I was a kid, Mom prayed nightly over the three of us and our futures.
“Well, he’s a great guy.” And it terrified me, because it would break their hearts when we eventually had to break up. Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to only be me that would take the inevitable downfall with Finn harshly; the whole family would.
“Even Sarah last night was going on about how nice he seemed. Speaking of Sarah…”
I took a larger sip of my coffee. “I see what you’re doing, Mom.”