“I am,” I said, standing up to slide my shoes on as he got dressed. “Are you ready to get back on a plane?” Our landing in Las Vegas had been bumpy, to say the least. The woman sitting next to us had said that it was pretty common when flying in and out of that airport. I’d thought Alex was going to vomit.

“Not looking forward to it,” he said with a humorless laugh. “But I’m ready to be home.”

“Missing work?” I asked, checking the room for anything we’d missed when we’d packed our things. We’d been there for less than twelve hours, but somehow the contents of our bags had exploded around the room.

“I’m just ready to be married, I guess,” he replied sheepishly. “You know, all the normal stuff. Getting you all moved in, coming home from work to see you on the couch with a frown on your face, going to see the Krakowskis, all of it.”

“Wait,” I said. “Why would I have a frown on my face?”

“Because you’re doing homework,” he replied easily.

“Oh.” That made sense. I was getting close to the end of school, and I definitely had what Hailey called “senioritis.” I was tired of the homework, tired of all the time I spent at the university, and tired of stressing about my grades. I was more than ready to graduate.

“It’s cute,” he said, coming up behind me as I bent to look under the bed.

I shot up like I’d been electrocuted when he lightly pinched my butt.

“I wish we had more time,” he murmured, fitting himself against my back.

“Me too,” I replied, letting my head drift back to rest against his shoulder as he rolled his hips.

“We should come back for our anniversary,” Alex said, kissing my neck before pulling away. “Go to some shows, gamble a little—you know, do Vegas right.”

“Sounds fun,” I replied, but my mind was already wandering back to the fact that I was married and no one knew it yet.

We left the hotel and got into a cab that took us to the airport. It was late November, but the sky was clear and bright as we wove in and out of traffic. Ironically, Alex didn’t seem at all nervous that our cab driver was a maniac, but he nearly lost the contents of his stomach when we hit a little turbulence on an airplane. I was the exact opposite. I hated riding with bad drivers, and the only saving grace of the whole ride was that it wasn’t raining.

By the time we got on our flight and settled into our seats, I’d calmed down and Alex was all wound up again.

“Almost home,” I said with a sigh, giving his knee a squeeze.