I looked at Holly, at my best friend, at the faces of my neighbors smiling at me, and felt a profound sense of peace settle over me. I hadn’t just chosen a place. I’d chosen a family. And for the first time, my future felt not just possible, but perfect.
“That was dramatic,” Holly said with a nervous laugh.
“Very dramatic,” I agreed, pulling her closer. “Think everyone heard the part where I said I love you?”
“I think everyone in a three-block radius heard the part where you said you love me.”
“Good,” I said, kissing her soundly. “Let them all know that I’m completely, irrevocably in love with Holly Winters and planning to stay in Everdale Falls forever.”
“Forever’s a long time,” Holly said against my lips.
“Not long enough,” I said, and meant it completely. The anxiety that I had been harboring lifted completely. Who knew that telling your boss to fuck off and stick his job was a cure for all that plagued you?
Three hours later, Holly and I were standing in the lobby of the Everdale Inn, a cozy bed-and-breakfast on the outskirts of town that Holly had suggested when we wanted our first night together as a committed couple to be somewhere private and romantic rather than in either of our childhood homes, with our parents down the hall.
“Room twelve,” Lucy said cheerfully, handing us an old-fashioned key. “Our best suite. Beautiful view of the mountains, fireplace, private bath. Perfect for a romantic getaway.”
“Thank you,” Holly said, accepting the key with nervousness that I found completely endearing.
As we made our way up the stairs to the second floor, this felt different from our previous encounters. This wasn’t desperate attraction or holiday romance or stolen moments in inappropriate locations. This was the beginning of our real life together, and the weight of that was both thrilling and terrifying.
“You okay?” Holly asked as she unlocked the door to our room.
“Perfect,” I said, though what I was thinking was that I’d never been more nervous about sleeping with someone in my life, probably because this wasn’t just about sleeping together anymore. This was about choosing each other, permanently and publicly and with the full support of our families and community.
The room was exactly what Lucy had promised—cozy and romantic with a stone fireplace, a four-poster bed covered in soft quilts, and windows that looked out over snow-covered mountains. It was the kind of place designed for romantic getaways and marriage proposals and all the traditional milestones that suddenly felt not just possible but inevitable.
“It’s beautiful,” Holly said softly, moving to the window to look out at the view.
“You’re beautiful,” I said, because it was true and because I was apparently incapable of being in the same room with her without stating obvious facts about her general perfection.
Holly turned from the window with the kind of smile that made my chest tighten with happiness and anticipation and the overwhelming certainty that I was exactly where I belonged.
“Declan,” she said quietly, “are you sure about this? About us, about staying, about all of it?”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,” I said, moving toward her. “Are you?”
“Yes,” Holly said simply, and then she was kissing me with the kind of desperate intensity that suggested she’d been waiting for this moment as much as I had.
I took my time undressing her, unwrapping her like the Christmas present I had been waiting for, memorizing every inch of skin as it was revealed, and she did the same for me, her hands gentle and sure as she explored muscles and scars and allthe imperfections that made up the body she was choosing to love.
When she dropped to her knees and took my cock in her mouth, I slid my hand into her hair, staring down at her as she grazed her teeth down my length.
“Fuck,” I groaned. “Your mouth is so fucking hot.”
She looked up at me, her green eyes dark with desire, and I knew I couldn’t just stand there and take. This wasn’t just about getting off; it was about starting our lives. I threaded my fingers deeper into her hair and gently pulled her to her feet.
“My turn,” I murmured, my voice rough.
I lifted her into my arms and carried her to the four-poster bed. The fire crackled in the hearth, casting a warm, flickering light across the room as I laid her down. I kissed her, a deep, slow kiss that was full of all the things I hadn’t been able to say on the festival stage or in front of our parents. It was a kiss that saidforever.
This time was different from the cabin, different from the storage room. There was no desperation, no stolen urgency. This was a deliberate, unhurried exploration. Every touch was a promise, every kiss a declaration. I trailed my mouth down over her gorgeous tits, pausing to suck her nipples into hard, aching peaks. I moved lower, over her stomach and parted her legs so I could see her clit waiting for me to bite it gently. I gripped it between my teeth and tugged until she cried out. Slipping two fingers inside her, she clamped down on me almost immediately with a soft moan. I worked my fingers inside her, curling them to find that spot that made her gasp, while my tongue circled her clit in slow, deliberate strokes. She was already close—I could feel it in the way her thighs trembled against my shoulders, in the breathless sounds she was making that were part moan, part plea.
“Declan,” she whispered, her hands fisting in my hair. “Please.”
I loved hearing her beg. Loved knowing that I could make her come undone like this. I increased the pressure, sucking her clit into my mouth while my fingers thrust deeper, and she shattered with a cry that echoed off the walls of our perfect little room.
Before she could catch her breath, I was moving up her body, positioning myself between her legs. I paused, looking down at her flushed face, her kiss-swollen lips, her eyes dark with satisfaction and renewed desire.
