He met me like gravity. Like home.
Our foreheads pressed together, rings touching where our hands tangled between us.
“You were there,” I whispered. “All that time ago. You saw me before I ever knew you.”
“I told you. And I’ve been chasing that glimpse ever since,” he said softly. “Turns out she caught me first.”
I kissed him again, slower this time, deeper. Not hungry. Not frantic.
Just certain.
The journal lay forgotten on the desk. The past open and witnessed. The present warm in my hands.
Since Spa.
Since the beginning.
Since always.
The house had gone quiet by the time we emerged from his room. Callum grabbed my hand, lacing our fingers together as he whispered, “Come on.”
I blinked. “Where are we going?”
He just smirked. “Birthday drive.”
I rolled my eyes but let him tug me toward the door. The moment we stepped outside, the cold nipped at my cheeks, the scent of wood smoke and pine thick in the air.
His father’s old red truck was parked in the driveway, dusted in fresh powder. My husband opened the door for me, helping me in, his hands lingering at my waist.
I shivered—not from the cold.
“Cal, mon cœur,” I purred. “Happy birthday. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life celebrating you the way you deserve.”
“Mmm,” he hummed, pressing a kiss to my jaw. “I like the sound of that.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course you do. You’re a dramatic little slut.”
His piercing blue gaze flicked to mine, dark and knowing as he chuckled. “You know,” he mused, brushing snowflakes from my hair, “there was something you told me once. About getting caught with your pants down on the hood of a car.”
Heat slammed through me. “Oh mon Dieu.”
He smirked. “Reckon I should help you… finish what you started?”
My breath hitched.
And when he climbed into the driver’s seat, shifting the truck into gear, I knew exactly where this was going.
And I couldn’t wait.
Especially when I thought about what was beneath this dress. What I had been waiting to ruin him with all night.
But as always, it was never about one of us wrecking the other, but about us wrecking each other, equally, and always.
1 YEAR LATER
Final race of the season.
Final chance.
