“Let me check my calendar,” Bennett said.
Jasper waited, patient.
Bennett pulled out his phone, scrolled through Monday’s meetings. Nothing critical. Nothing that couldn’t be rescheduled.
“Okay,” he said. “One more night.”
Jasper’s smile was worth it.
They spentthe day doing nothing urgent. They walked. They read. Jasper napped while Bennett worked on his laptop for an hour, unable to completely disconnect.
When Jasper woke, he found Bennett on the deck, staring at the lake.
“You okay?” Jasper asked, joining him.
“Yes,” Bennett said. “I was just thinking.”
“About?”
Bennett turned to face him. “About how different this is from what I expected my life to look like.”
Jasper’s expression grew serious. “In a good way?”
“In the best way,” Bennett replied. “I couldn’t plan for you. Couldn’t control how I felt. That terrified me.”
“And now?”
Bennett took Jasper’s hand. “Now I know that some things just need to be chosen.”
Jasper’s throat worked. “Bennett.”
“I choose this,” Bennett said quietly. “I choose you. Every day.”
Jasper pulled him close, kissing him deeply. When they broke apart, both were breathing hard.
“I choose you too,” Jasper said. “In case that wasn’t clear.”
Bennett smiled. “It was. But it’s good to hear anyway.”
That night, they made love slowly, taking their time, learning each other again in the firelight. Afterward, they lay tangled together, neither willing to move.
“Thank you for this,” Bennett said.
“For what?”
“For suggesting this. For being patient with me. For not giving up when I was difficult.”
Jasper ran his fingers through Bennett’s hair. “You’re worth it.”
“I’m learning to believe that,” Bennett replied.
“Good,” Jasper said. “Because it’s true.”
They drove back Monday morning, tired but content. The city rose up to meet them, familiar and demanding.
But something had shifted. Bennett felt it as they merged back into traffic, as the cabin disappeared in the rearview mirror.
He could choose joy over control. And the world didn’t fall apart.
