I’m always amped up and ready to go when we’re together, but there’s also a familiarity and comfort between us now. It’s this deep, delicious sense of ease that I’ve never felt around anyone but my family. Being with him has become second nature. I feel most like the version of myself I want to be when I’m in Dempsey’s arms.

“Would you like to go to New York City with me?”

I sit up so fast I make myself dizzy.

“Are you serious?”

He smiles and sticks his tongue in his cheek, peering over at me with this carefree, amused expression.

“Of course I’m serious.”

“When?” I demand, already visualizing my calendar in my head. I don’t have a work schedule to consider or much of anything else going on, but it’s already July fourth. And I’m heading back to California on July thirty-first.

“Next weekend?” he asks, as if it’s up to me.

“Yes. Hell yes. Oh my gosh, Dem. I’m so excited! But wait, why New York City?”

“I have to sign some papers from my mom’s lawyer since I have power of attorney for her estate. He offered to fly out to Hampton like he normally does, but I thought maybe you’d like to go on a trip and spend a few days in the city.”

He pulls me back into him, encouraging me to lean back again. But I’m way too restless to sit back and relax now.

New York. New York freakin’ City. The Big Apple. Concrete jungle where dreams are made, or something like that. I’m almost positive my mom’s DVD of When Harry Met Sally is down in the basement somewhere. I’ll find it and watch it this week. Maybe I’ll have time to rewatch all six seasons of Sex and the City, too.

“Have you been to New York before?” he asks as he strokes the skin behind my ear.

I shiver under his touch—which just encourages him to use his other hand to caress the same spot on the other side.

“Once,” I reply, reaching back to run my fingers along his forearm as he plays with my hair. “My grandparents took Rhett and me on a sight-seeing trip when we were kids. We stayed at the Plaza hotel and ate our body weight in Babybel cheese from the mini fridge.”

He twirls a strand of my hair in his fingers before giving it a little tug. “Wait—are you sure you’re not recalling the plot from Home Alone 2?”