Free Autumn Awakening by Amy Sparling Page A

wouldn’t do.”
     
    #
     
    Jace is dying for some sexy times when we go to bed a few hours later. But we both lie in our bed, the bedroom door closed, and look at each other.
    “This is too weird,” I say, scrunching my face. “Your parents are just down the hall. I don’t think I can do this.”
    “Yeah, I can’t either.” Jace sighs and leans over, wrapping an arm around me. I snuggle into his shoulder and run my finger across his bare chest.
    “Maybe we should just sleep tonight,” I say.
    He kisses my forehead. “Yep.”
     

Chapter 13
     
    When our alarm clock goes off the next morning, I am overjoyed to climb out of bed. And that’s pretty much the opposite reaction I have on any other morning. I sit up and throw the blankets off me and then lean over to Jace’s nightstand and turn of his phone alarm. He’s already in the bathroom, brushing his teeth.
    “Good morning,” he says, walking out of the bathroom in nothing but his boxers.
    “Happy anniversary,” I say, grinning as his arms slide around my waist and he pulls me in for a hug.
    “Happy anniversary,” he whispers back, his lips on mine. He tastes minty and perfect and we kiss a few more times before I pull away. “I have something for you.”
    “What do you mean?” I ask, lifting an eyebrow.
    Jace reaches under his side of the bed and pulls out a small box wrapped in golden paper and tied with a bright purple ribbon. He hands it to me. “Thanks for being my wife for two years.”
    “Jace!” I take the box, which is so beautifully wrapped that I kind of don’t want to mess it up. “Your present was taking me to Dallas. I don’t need anything else.”
    “You needed this,” he says, his lips twisting into a smile. “Go on, open it.”
    I peel off the paper carefully and find a black velvet box inside. Expecting jewelry, I am not surprised when I see a white gold chain necklace with a heart pendant. But the surprise comes in what’s on the pendant. I pick up the heart and run my thumb across the ridges in the metal.
    “Is this . . . ?” I say.
    “Fingerprints,” Jace supplies the word for me. He points to the left side of the heart. “That’s mine, and the other side is Jett’s.”
    My eyes get watery. “You put your fingerprints into metal for me?”
    He nods, a cheesy grin on his face. “We went to a jeweler. He cast our fingerprints in clay and then made a mold of it for the gold pendant. Cool, huh?”
    I clutch the necklace in my hand and bring it to my chest. “This is so perfect. Your present is so much better than mine. I don’t even want to give it to you now.”
    “Let’s see it,” he says. “I bet it rocks.”
    I shake my head. “You’ll have to get dressed to see your present. It’s at the track.”
    “Awesome,” he says, tugging on a pair of jeans. “Let’s get going.”
    Since Jett is still asleep when we’re ready to leave, I just give him a kiss on the head and don’t bother waking him up. Julie swears he will be fine and I’ll just have to believe her. But with the way his grandparents spoil him, I don’t think he’ll even notice we’re gone.
    Once we’re in the truck, I can’t stop touching the heart around my neck and thinking about how those two fingerprints belong to the two people I love the most in this world.
    But as we near the track, I start getting nervous about revealing my present to Jace. It’s nothing compared to a personalized necklace but I guess I should have known all along that nothing I do can compare to his thoughtful gifts.
    “Okay, I wish you could close your eyes but you’re driving so . . .” I say as we turn onto the county road where the track is located.
    “Can I see it from the road?” Jace asks, lifting an eyebrow.
    I nod. “Yep. That’s kind of the idea of the whole gift.”
    “Now I’m intrigued,” he says, narrowing his eyes as he tries to focus into the distance.
    I see the present before he does, because I know what to look for. My breath