“Don’t get me wrong,” he added, a groan low in his chest.“I want you.Christ, I want you.You don’t know how many times I’ve had to take care of myself before seeing you, just so I wouldn’t lose my patience.”His jaw clenched, eyes burning into mine.“But I don’t want a night.I don’t want a fling.I want all of it, Cass.All of you.I want to do this right.”
The air between us pulsed, fire crackling behind him, my heart beating so loud it hurt.The words he was saying seemed so big, but I understood them.We had known each other our whole lives; we weren't strangers stumbling into something.
“I want to date you,” he said, softer now.“To court you, if you want to call it that.I want us to know, without doubt, that this is real.That we’re ready.”His voice dropped, sure and steady.“When I kiss you for the first time, it’ll be because we both know it is exactly what we want.And when I make love to you… It’ll be that.Making love.Not fucking.Not taking.But giving.Building.”
The intensity in his hazel eyes was so much.He studied me for another long moment, letting his words sink in, letting me understand what he was saying, asking for.
"So, Cassidy, tonight let me hold you beneath the stars.Then every day after, let me show you how life could be with me."
I didn’t know what to say.Didn’t know how to hold the weight of what he was laying at my feet.All I managed, muffled around his finger, was, “Okay.”
He groaned again when his finger dipped into my mouth as my lips moved, tipping his head back with a laugh that sounded half-strangled.
We didn’t kiss.We didn’t cross that line.He just pulled me against him beneath the blankets, his arm heavy and secure around me, his chest a solid wall at my back.He held me like I was something breakable but worth keeping safe.We talked until words blurred into warmth and firelight, and when sleep finally took me, I wasn’t afraid of it.
The next morning smelled like ash and coffee.We sat side by side on the blanket, enamel mugs warming our hands while the sun crept through the branches.The world felt new, washed clean.
We walked the stretch near the creek, marking some new areas to explore, building near.I found myself watching him more than the land, memorizing the way his shirt clung across his shoulders, the way he pointed out things he thought I’d care about, like where wildflowers would bloom naturally in the spring.
As we circled back, he brushed his hand against mine, casual, nothing forced."Adam was telling me about this steakhouse that opened up recently.I was wondering if you'd like to go to dinner with me on Wednesday."
I smiled, unable to hide it.“So… another date?”
His answering grin was all promise.“Yeah, Morgan.Another date.”
I could feel the blush creep across my chest, up my neck and spread across my cheeks."That sounds great, I'd love to."
“We are going to do this right, I will pick you up, declare my intentions with your family and take you out,” he said.
My smile couldn't get any bigger, he wanted to tell my family.
“And next weekend," He continued, like he hadn't just said the thing to calm my racing nerves with the simple act of not wanting to keep us hidden, even though this could complicate his relationship with Chase, with my family."We’ll camp on the ridge and watch the sunset.You need to see how the light falls there before you decide where to build.”
He kept talking about his plans for dating me, we kept walking, and I kept smiling.Every step felt lighter, like the earth beneath my boots already knew it was holding the beginnings of a life I hadn’t dared to dream of.
Chapter 43
The calls continued, same blocked number, same thirty seconds of nothing.I never picked up, just watched the screen light my palm and felt that old crawl along my spine.Twice it rang while I was on a solo hike, up the ridge past the birches where the trail overlooks the creek.I waited for the third call to come through, but it never did.I was halfway across the footbridge when I got the unmistakable feeling of being watched, skin prickling, breath hitching, only to turn, reach for the bear spray in my pack and see nothing but trees.
I told myself it was nerves.New things nerves.Dating-Brody nerves.Book nerves.
When I got home, I told Chase anyway.He listened with his doctor-face first, calm, measured, then with his big-brother face.“You don’t hike alone without telling someone where you’re going,” he said, handing me a bottle of water like I’d forgotten how to hydrate.“Share your live location.Humour me.”
“I do not want your Find My Sister alerts going off every time I stop for a snack.”
“Then keep moving, Morgan.”He didn’t smile; instead, he turned on location sharing on my contact and, without asking, grabbed my phone to accept.“And text me.Every time.”
My lawyer called to update me on our progress.“We still don’t have a firm trial date,” he said over the phone.“These things can take time to land on the docket.Last I heard, he’s no longer at the marital home.”He didn’t say where Andrew was now.He didn’t have to.The quiet between his sentences said,Be careful.
The lead-up to the date felt like balancing a glass of water on my head, every movement careful, every thought a ripple threatening to spill.It wasn’t him.I knew Brody would be the softest landing.It was me.It was the part of me that felt like I was used up, dirty and not worthy of someone like Brody Palmer.
The night he was coming to pick me up, my family conspired to be home.Of course they did.Dad was “running late” on purpose but still managed to get there in time to meet the doorbell.Mom had laid out a cheeseboard “for energy.”Chase was “just passing through,” leaning against the counter like a bouncer.Clara commandeered my room.
She stood behind me in the mirror, curling iron in hand.“Why are you so nervous?”she asked, eyes soft and too perceptive.“It’s Brody.”
“Exactly.”I adjusted the strap of my dress, then adjusted it again.“This isn’t just a date.This isn’t just some guy.It’s...”I exhaled.“It’s Brody Palmer.I used to write our names together in my journals like a deranged Hallmark pen pal.I probably have old schoolbooks that have ‘Cassidy Palmer’ scribbled all over.”
Clara’s grin went nuclear.“Oh, we are absolutely finding those later.”
