I couldn't speak. Could only stare at the key in my palm.
"So I'm giving you this key because I want you to have it. I want you here whenever you want to be here. I want this to feel like home to you too." He took my hand. "You're home to me, Jason. You have been since the retreat. Maybe before."
"Brent." My voice came out choked. "I love you so much."
"I love you too." He kissed me softly. "So yes, it's just a key. But it's also a promise. That I'm all in. That I choose you, every day, for as long as you'll have me."
"Forever," I managed. "I'll have you forever."
We kissed until my phone timer went off—a reminder for my own gift.
"Your turn," I said, pulling back.
I handed him the envelope I'd hidden earlier. He opened it carefully, pulling out the printed pages.
"What's this?"
"The first three chapters of something new. A collaboration." I watched his face. "It's our story. The retreat,two writers falling in love. Fictionalized. I want to write it with you. If you want to."
His eyes flew to mine. "You want to co-write a book with me?"
"I want to build everything with you. Books, a life, a future. All of it."
"Jason." He set the pages aside carefully and pulled me into his lap. "That's the best gift anyone's ever given me. We're going to write something amazing. Together."
His hands slid under my sweater and I shivered.
"Brent," I breathed. "I want—"
"What do you want?"
"You. Want you to make love to me."
He pulled back to look at me. "You sure?"
"Completely sure."
***
We made our way to his bedroom. The Christmas lights from the living room cast soft colors through the doorway. We undressed each other slowly, savoring every reveal.
When we were finally naked, he laid me down on his bed and just looked at me.
"You're so beautiful," he said quietly.
"Always going to choose you."
He kissed me then, long and deep, his body covering mine. I wrapped my legs around his hips, pulling him closer.
His mouth moved down my throat, across my collarbone, down my chest. When his mouth closed around me, I gasped.
"Brent—"
He pulled off. "Too much?"
"Too good. Want this to last."
"We have all night." He moved back up my body, his hand wrapping around me, stroking slowly. "Tell me what you want."
