Fighting Fire - s.k.

Chapter Fourteen

Sam pouted as he reached for his wine glass and noticed it was empty. Stevie had originally planned to rush and get Sam to go home, but after reconciling, she realized she just wanted him to stay. So now, they were tangled in each other and drinking orange juice from wine glasses on the couch.

"So," Stevie smiled, taking the glass out of his hand and setting it down on the coffee table, "Circling back to this, why do you have Josh's car?"

Sam chuckled and reached his hands for her hips again, pulling her close to him, "The twins are in town visiting my parents. They pretty much forced me into the car."

"Oh, I see," Stevie narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips together, "So, you only came over here and professed your love for me because your brothers told you to."

"Stevie," Sam rolled his eyes, "Give me a break."

She laughed and kissed him quickly, squeezing his shoulders with her hands, "Remind me to thank Josh later."

"Well," Sam scoffed, "You'd be surprised to know that Jake was the most convincing."

Stevie backed away from Sam and raised her eyebrows with a smirk, "Oh really?"

Sam nodded, humming in confirmation, "Oh yeah, it was very dramatic too. You would have loved it!"

"What did he say?" Stevie eyed Sam suspiciously and he smiled, "Something like 'you can't let her go" or along those lines."

"Aww, Jake," Stevie blushed, "That's sweet."

"Yeah, yeah," Sam rolled his eyes, "He's great. Moving on!"

"Sam, come on," Stevie chuckled teasingly, "The jealousy has no leg to stand on anymore. You are my boyfriend now."

Sam's cheeks flushed and he smiled wide, "Can you say that again?"

Stevie groaned and Sam kissed her jaw before nuzzling his face against her neck, "Come on babe. Humor me."

She sighed and hugged him close to her, "You're my boyfriend."

"Ah, it's just so satisfying to hear you say it," Sam let out a little giggle and Stevie smiled.

"It feels kind of weird," Stevie giggled, "We're dating?"

"I mean," Sam laughed loudly, "We were doing a lot more than dating before we got here."

"Yeah," Stevie snuggled into him, "I guess we did everything backward."

She pressed a soft kiss onto his jaw and ran her hand through his hair, "I didn't know how I could ever forgive you, but I have slowly realized that anything material doesn't matter at the end of the day."

"Stevie," Sam whispered, "I can't go back and change what happened, no matter how much I wish I could."

"I know," Stevie sat up and looked at him sadly, "Nobody loved that boat as much as my dad did."

Stevie sighed and shook her head, "But, he's not here. And nothing is the same anymore. I don't want to go on pretending that everything I do needs to be for him. I don't want to go on pretending that I don't want you."

Sam hummed, resting his head on her shoulder, "It's okay to be upset with me, Stevie. It doesn't make me love you any less."

"No," Stevie smiled, "It's stupid to be mad over something so irrelevant to my life. I don't even fucking know how to drive a boat, Sam."

He smiled when he heard her laughter, feeling the vibration of her voice against his cheek. Sam didn't want to rush in and tell her that he had it fixed. He thought it would be better to see the look on her face when she saw it for herself. Honestly, he thought he'd have to beg her to come back to the lake house before she even thought about forgiving him, but it was more validating than anything to know she felt the same way he did about her.