She raises an eyebrow. “Do you know how tostand?”
“Not when you make my knees weak.”
She can’t help the grin that spreads across her face. “Okay, that was cute.”
I tug her into my chest, that smile of hers quickly becoming my favorite thing ever. “My father was never therefor my mom. He was emotionally abusive and manipulative. A shark sniffing in the water for blood. That might have worked for building his business in the worst possible way, but it made a toxic home environment. And I think it slowly killed my mother’s spark. She’s alive. Healthy. But he took something from her that never came back, even after he died. And I never want to be that for you. I want to see that grin for the rest of my life. Probably get pushed into the stream another dozen or so times when you inevitably get mad at me for something. I want to be the person you’re hugging when all the breath leaves your body and you relax for two seconds. The person you curl into when you’re not feeling well. The person you call when you need help disposing of the body.”
“Reed’s?”
I pause. “Don’t kill Reed. That’s a slam dunk case they’ll have against him. That’s not worth it.”
She wraps her arms around my middle, squeezing gently, and sums up my monologue in three little words. “I love you.”
And so help me, I don’t think I will ever get sick of hearing it.
“I love you, too.”
We stand for a few more minutes, sipping wine as we look out over the sunflower fields, before Evie starts yawning.
“Come on. I think it’s time to get you to bed,” I say, stepping down and holding my hand out for her.
“But bed is very grassy,” she says.
I laugh, tugging her around the far side of the cabin where I’ve set up a tent with a little heater that connects to the generator.
She raises her eyebrows when she sees it. “Wow, you really were prepared, weren’t you?”
I shrug. “I was going to put it in the bedroom but I thought you might not like being that visible. If we have a phone light or the heater is still on, I think you can see the living room from the road leading up to the sunflower farm. Not that anyone is going to trek all the way up here, but I had to make a judgment call and I went with the more discreet option.”
She nods. “I respect that.” Then she turns to me, shooting me a quick wink. “Though a little voyeurism never hurt anybody.”
“Silly me, thinking that yawn was you saying you weretired.” I shake my head. “Little Evie Harper is always just using me for my body.”
She steps in front of me, weaving her arms around my waist again and pressing a kiss to my chin in that spot she knows drives me wild. “You love it.”
I can’t help the groan that escapes me as I pick her up, her legs winding easily around my waist as I duck underneath the zipper of the tent and throw her down on the thin mattress.
With only the sounds of the night surrounding us—owls hooting in the distance and the occasional rustle of a squirrel jumping between trees—I sink into the woman I love. Her body melds to mine, her back arching up into me and her mouth searching for mine the second we part. She clings to me in a way she hasn’t before, like she’s finally accepting that she’s mine and I’m hers.
And everything around us is nowours.
As her pleasure rings out around us, I let a little bit of my old convictions go too. Until now, I’ve guided myself through life with only the intention of not being my father.But from here on out, the only thing I want to be is good enough for Evie.
Thatis my new baseline. My goal. My guiding light.
When we’ve traded enough orgasms that she’s nothing but a puddle beneath me, she dons a blanket and slinks off to the fancy bathroom I rented for the night.
And I lay back, breathless with the thought of this new life I’ve chosen for myself. One that I’m really excited for.
A few moments later, she reappears, dropping the blanket from her shoulders and pulling my shirt over her head. She pulls on her underwear but stops there, tugging the blanket around her again.
“Can you turn off the lights?” she asks. “I want to see the stars.”
I nod, grabbing my underwear and giving her a sloppy kiss before letting myself out of the tent and unplugging them from the generator. She follows me out, one blanket around her shoulders and two more gathered in her arms. She takes a seat along the big log that lines the living room and looks out over the sunflower field.
And I sit next to her, wrapping one arm around her shoulders as she pulls another large blanket around both of us.
I alternate staring at her, the sunflower farm, and the stars. She rests her head on my shoulder, and I kiss her forehead, euphoria pumping through my veins.
