“I know you’ll hate any movie I’d pick, so why don’t you choose?” she sets a tray of snacks on the bed and drinks on the nightstand.
“I don’t care what we watch. I just wanna be with you, Ella,” I insist, watching the way her cheeks flush. She grabs the remote and crawls onto the bed, sitting cross-legged as she powers on the TV.
Before I join her, I kick off my boots and set my wallet, keys, phone and handgun—the one I carry regularly—on the side table. My heart starts to race a little more as the realization and yet the unknown of the evening settles in.
“Then we’re watchingWhen Harry Met Sally,” her grin downright playful, like she’s waiting for me to protest.
I just laugh. “Whatever you want, sweetheart.”
She gives me a surprised look, but I meant what I said. I don’t care what we watch—I’d watch paint dry with her. I’m just happy we found a night we could spend together.
This season has worn me out. Long days, early mornings, exhausted by the end. I’m thankful for it all of course, but throw in a girl you’d drop everything for, and balance feels almost impossible to find.
The movie starts, and she pulls a blanket over us before reaching for the tub of ice cream. I watch her eat straight from the carton and can’t help but let out an unwarranted laugh. I’ve seen this before.
“What?” she counters.
“You’re on your period.”
Her eyes bug out. “How did you know that?!”
“Because Iknowyou, Ella. I remember every single thing there is to remember.”
“Really?” she asks, but not in a surprised way, in a sentimentalway. Her eyes soften like she’s about to cry. No surprise there either.
“Of course.” I reach my arm out to place around her and she settles into me.
“What else do you remember?”
“That your lower back always hurts really bad; you needed me to use all my strength to massage it.”
She smiles. “Yup, still the same.”
I think harder about anything else I can recall. “Also, that I should’ve brought you chocolates or more ice cream instead of flowers,” I tease when I notice she doesn’t have much left.
“That or a pizza. Pizza would be perfect.”
I reach for my phone. “I’ll get one.”
“No. No, it’s fine,” she pushes my phone away. “Next time.”
I set my phone back down and turn in towards her, swiping my other hand up over her cheek. “Okay,” I whisper and bring my mouth down on hers.
Over the next ten minutes, things take a turn. What started out as a back massage for her has now shifted entirely. We got closer, I kissed her, she kissed me harder, one thing led to another, and before I knew it, she was sitting in my lap.
The heat between our bodies is building in a way I haven’t felt in a long time. I flip us over, so I’m on top of her now, she continues to giggle. The world around us is starting to disappear as there’s still that undeniable connection between us. I can’t quite explain how it feels. The only thing I know for certain is that I’m still very much in love with her.
Chapter 10
Jesse
This Thanksgiving, we decided not to have clients come in to hunt. Last year, we did—hosted a big dinner and everything—but it was way too much work for my mom and Addison to do. We all helped as much as we could, but we aren’t themostexperienced in the kitchen.
So, this year I got to take Ella out hunting instead. No pressure, no clients, just us. She was more than willing and excited to come along. Now here we are, tucked into one of our pit blinds on this twenty-degree morning.
We haven’t had a moment alone all week. The last time I saw her was almost a week ago, when I went over to her place to watch a movie. Although no boundaries were crossed, I have absolutely no clue what that movie was even about.
I saw her briefly at church on Sunday, but since then, she’s been busy working in the ER all week, and we had a big crew of clients come in for hunts.
