Nate’s skinhas a faint greenish tinge to it when he picks me up from the airport in Montana. He looks almost painfully relieved to see me, and immediately pulls me into a bone-crushing hug when I reach him. It’s only been a week and a half since school ended, and we were last together.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” he mumbles into my neck, where his face is smushed. I run a soothing hand down his back, feeling pretty pleased with the greeting.
“I told you I would be,” I remind him. In fact, he’d been in the room and watching when I’d booked my flight. Peeling himself away from me, he rests his hands on my shoulders and smiles, eyes skating rapidly over my face as though he wants to ensure I haven’t changed in a week.
“You hungry? We’ve got a long drive, so if you wanted to grab food, we could stop somewhere,” he offers, thumb brushing idly across my neck as he talks. I don’t even think he’s aware he’s doing it, since he’s usually careful about the way he touches me.
“Sure,” I agree. He smiles and looks up as the baggage carousel starts rotating.
I offer my hand to him, palm facing up, and watch his eyes light up as he links his fingers between mine. Nate is a hand-holder and a snuggler and a kiss-in-public kind of guy. I can’t always meet the need, but today it’s as easy as breathing. I missed him, too.
As promised, the drive is long. But the view out the windows is pretty, and the company is great. By the time he turns the truck down a gravel drive, it hardly feels like any time has passed. He brings us to a stop in front of a metal gate, headlights glinting off the surface in the dark.
“Just a second,” he requests, before hopping out and leaving the driver’s door open. I click off my seat belt.
“I can grab it,” I offer, once he’s back in the vehicle and driving through the open gate. Before he can argue, I’m out of the truck and closing it behind us. Gravel crunching under my feet and the soft rumble of the truck idling are the only sounds; the headlights provide the only illumination beyond the moon. It feels like we’re in the middle of nowhere. When I inhale, I smell nothing but crisp pine and fresh air.
“So, this is your uncle’s driveway?” I ask once I’m back in the cab. He nods, driving slowly and keeping his eyes facing forward.
“Yeah. We’ll go by his house on the right. I’ll give you the full tour tomorrow, though.” He glances over at me in the dark interior of the car, grinning. I really did miss him, no matter that it hasn’t even been two weeks since we were together and we’ve talked every day on the phone.
“Thanks again for inviting me.”
“I’ve never been so excited as I was this past week, waiting for you to arrive,” he tells me, making me laugh. I reach over the center console and rest my hand on his leg. “I’ve got so many fucking plans. We’re going to go camping, and fishing—so much fishing—and I’ve got a surprise for you. I’ll show you tomorrow.”
“A surprise?” I ask warily.
“Tomorrow! You’re going to love it. My parents are going to stop by for a visit after their cruise, before heading home, so they can meet you. But that will only be for a few days. Mostly, it’ll be us and Uncle Jes holding down the fort.”
I’m so focused on watching Nate’s face as he talks that I don’t notice that we’ve arrived until he turns the vehicle off. Motion lights have clicked on at our approach, and there’sjust enough light to see the front of what is obviously a barn. Two massive sliding doors take up the majority of the exterior wall, with a small single door to the side. Nate grabs my bag and excitedly gestures for me to exit the truck. Unlocking the single door, he reaches in and turns on the interior light, before stepping back and letting me precede him inside.
A couple heads pop over the low stall doors as the horses look to see what’s going on. When Nate steps into view, the one nearest us nickers in welcome. I look around, surprised by how long the space is. Both sides of the barn are lined with stalls, with floor-to-ceiling sliding barn doors on either end. Nate, seeing me looking, rubs his hand idly on the nose of one of the curious horses and gestures toward the space.
“Those doors lead to the driveway, where we just came from.” He points. “And the ones at the back lead to one of the pastures. When we want to put them outside, we just open it up and open the stall doors—easier than bringing them out one by one.”
“Wow.” I glance around. There must be at least thirty animals in here. “Are these…this is alotof horses.”
“Not all of them sleep inside,” Nate tells me on a soft laugh. “Right now we’ve got one hundred and two. Not all ours, though.”
Patting the horse’s neck, he hefts my bag and reaches the other for my hand.
“That door is a tack room, that’s an office, and then up through here is the loft.” Again, he holds open the door and lets me ascend the stairs in front of him.
He follows closely behind me as we walk up, the close confines crackling with what feels like nervous energy. When I glance back at him, Nate’s biting his lip.
“Okay, so it’s not much. It’s all one room, so it’s not even asnice as your apartment back at school,” he tells me nervously. I step to the side silently once I crest the stairs. Nate follows, finding the light switch in the dark and turning it on.
As he said, it’s all one room, but the room is massive. A coffee table and tan leather sofa make up the living room. A kitchen with full-size appliances runs the length of the right wall, with a large marble island and barstools taking the place of a dining room table. Straight back from where we’re standing is a door which I assume leads to the bathroom. A bed is tucked into the alcove next to it, partially obscured by a curtain hanging from the ceiling. It smells very strongly of lemon disinfectant, as though Nate made sure to clean before I got here.
“I know it’s pretty small,” he says shyly. “But?—”
“This is perfect, I love it. I bet you’ve got a hell of a view.” I gesture toward the wall opposite the kitchen, which is floor-to-ceiling windows. Nate visibly brightens, smile once more chasing the nervousness away.
“Oh, it’s incredible. And here, look.” He strides over to open the refrigerator and one of the cupboards. “I got all of your favorite things—Coke and tons of soup even though it’s a million degrees outside. And there’s already a toothbrush for you in the bathroom, too. I cleared out a bunch of space in the dresser, so you can unpack tomorrow if you want.”
Standing in the middle of the room, I watch him as he rambles. It’s evident he was worried about me coming, and tried incredibly hard to make his space welcoming. I didn’t need anything but him, but the fact that he even thought about these things at all is extremely charming. My heart is thumping rather painfully in my chest, and my skin is buzzing with the urge to touch him instead of shy away for once.
“Nate,” I murmur, breaking through his tirade. His cheeks are a little flushed and the moment he stops talking, he bites his lip again. “Thank you.”
