32. Sam

SAM

The next morning I wake up bleary eyed to someone banging on our door. At some point in the night, I made my way to my own pillow, but Annie followed and she's still curled up against me. I could get used to waking up every morning like this, with her in my arms.

The banging on the door happens again, followed by a doorbell.

"Who in the world?" I groan into her hair.

"Maybe if we ignore them, they will just go away," she murmurs, curling closer to me.

The knocking doesn't stop. "Come on, open up!"

This time, Annie groans. It's Noah.

I feel trapped. Maybe this is what Monica and Chandler felt like the morning of Ross's wedding when they were together in Chandler's room and Ross came in. Except this isn't Friends and Noah knows that I slept in here. But he doesn't know that we spent the night cuddling, after kissing, before we fell asleep.

"He's going to see the couch is still a couch," I say as I untangle myself from Annie. She reaches for me.

"That's okay," she says, which surprises me because she is the one who originally requested we not tell Noah yet. "I mean, we can just tell him the couch bed was broken and that we had to share a bed. I still think we should wait until after his wedding to tell him about us."

"I'm fine with that," I say as Noah knocks on the door again.

"What are you two doing in there?"

"Just a second," I holler back, then look at Annie. "Can I kiss you again, before Noah is in here and I have to go back to pretending to love you from afar?"

"I might have gross morning breath." She ducks beneath the covers.

"That's alright, sunshine."

She peeks above the covers and nods yes and I press a quick kiss against her lips before she can pull me in. I run a hand through my sleep ruffled hair and move toward the door. "Showtime," I whisper right before I open the door.

Thankfully, Noah has always known of my not so secret feelings about Annie, so I don't have to pretend too much. But fighting the urge to not touch her might be difficult now that I can.

"About time," Noah says and then he appears in the room in front of me. "We just got here about an hour ago. Our flight was delayed again, so we just got checked in. Tally and her sister are sleeping, and I think her sister's fiancé also said something about taking a nap, but I'm not sure we'll see much of him anyway because he doesn't really like people." Noah is rambling on and I keep waiting for him to notice how the sheets are rumpled and Annie looks as though she's been kissed. Or maybe only I can see that because I'm the one who made her look that way.

"So I just wanted to give you your key—" Noah looks into the room and looks back at me with daggers in his eyes. "Did you sleep with my sister? I told you she was off limits. I warned you, I didn't want either of you to get hurt."

"You don't know anything," Annie snaps from the bed. "We're both adults. We can take care of ourselves."

I jump in before Noah gets the wrong idea though, "The couch bed wouldn"t come out, we only slept. Nothing more."

Noah glances between the two of us and decides to go after me instead of Annie, which I'm honestly grateful for. I don't know what I'd do if he said something even semi-mean to her. "If you put one finger on my sister…"

"I think you should think long and hard about what you're about to say next," I say, my voice is quiet but there's a threat underneath. "Because that woman right there might be your sister, but she's my…" I'm about to say wife, but Annie clears her throat behind us and we both look at her.

"You're what?" Noah asks me.

"I love her," I say quietly to him, even though I know that she can hear us. "And I just…don't talk like that about your sister. We're two consenting adults, so if something were to happen between us, it would be fine."

Noah blinks at me once. "I'm way too tired for this conversation. Here's the room key, but let me sleep for a few hours before you move your stuff in."

I take the key and nod at him.

"We're just two doors down." Then he leaves without another word.

I look at Annie, worried that she'll freak out on me for almost telling her brother. I didn't mean to, it just almost slipped out because it feels like the most normal and natural thing in the world to call her my wife. To have her as my wife.

"You almost called me your wife." She grins up at me.

"You're not mad?" I ask and she pats the bed beside her and shakes her head.

"Not at all. Now come back to bed, I was having a good time waking up in your arms and Noah ruined that."

She doesn't need to ask me twice. I'm in the bed next to her in a second, pulling her against me. "I could get used to this."

"Me too," Annie says. "Also, should we talk about how we're going to act in front of everyone at the wedding and before that?"

I bury my face in her neck, leaving a trail of kisses up to her chin before I kiss her on the lips. She melts into me and I grin against her mouth. "How about we just do this?"

"Sam," she squeals, but she kisses me again. "I'm serious."

"So am I." I smirk at her and there's laughter in her eyes. "But, like I said the other day, whatever you want to do, it's up to you."

She relaxes against me and I'm relieved. It's hard to give up control, especially when all I want to do is yell out to the world that she's my wife and the love of my life and my best friend. But letting her decide how we announce things is the right move.

"I think we should just act normal."

I kiss her again. "This is pretty normal, sunshine."

It takes her several minutes to reply, and when she does, she's breathless. "I think the best plan for the next few days will be to act like we're friends. Maybe a little flirting. But no kissing."

"Guess I'd better kiss you as much as I can now then, right?" I ask.

She laughs. "I'm all yours this morning."

When we finally get out of bed—hours later—I have a single text waiting for me from Chiara.

Chiara

Just wanted to give an update about the Mitch case. They have enough to at least put him up for trial, possibly more to put him away for good. Along with new charges of money laundering. Annie won't have to testify unless she wants to.

Thanks for the update. I'll let Annie know, I'm with her in Maui.

Go take care of our girl.

Always.

I slide my phone back into my pocket as Annie comes back to the bed. I will tell her the news, eventually. Not today, probably not even in the next little bit. She deserves to know, but she also deserves to have some peace on this vacation.

After I tell her my feelings, we can have a conversation about everything that happened and she can decide if she wants to testify against Mitch or not. I'm happy to do it if I need to. But it should be up to her if she wants to or not.

"Hi." Annie slides into my arms and kisses my cheek.

"Hi." I love you is on the tip of my tongue, but I don't say it. I want to, but I don't want to rush her.

"Ready for all of this?" I assume she means her brother's wedding and all the parties that come with it.

"I am. It's about time Noah got his happy ending."

She gives me a hug before stepping out of my embrace. "It really is."