Still, I unlock the door. He’s not a villain, and I owe him my thanks.
He slides into the passenger seat.
“Thank you for every—” I start.
“Come back with me.” His voice is thick and raspy.
I grip the steering wheel, trying to channel all my nervous energy into it. “I know you’re worried about me, but I’m good now. I’ve started to put together a plan, and?—”
“Yeah, I have a plan of my own—and it starts with you following me back up the mountain—where you belong.”
The gratitude I felt turns to anger. “I know how you feel, Kell.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I saw the sticky note.”
He pulls out his phone and toggles through the screen. “You mean the note I wrote in response to this.” He hits PLAY.
Kell, please, pick up the phone. I’m not the same person I was years ago. I regret what I did, but I can’t take it back. Just give me another chance. We could be happy together.
The recording ends and Kellan puts down his phone.
“Who was that?”
“My ex,” he says, running his fingers through his hair and sighing. “She calls every few weeks begging for another chance.”
“What happened between you two?”
“When we were together, she signed my name to a bunch of documents, landing me in a heap of trouble. It was the worst betrayal I’d ever felt, and it did something to me inside. It broke me.”
“Why have I never heard this before?”
“I was embarrassed, and I didn’t know who I could trust. I obtained a lawyer, and they were able to broker a deal with my ex, and I agreed not to turn her in. While negotiations were taking place, I left, leaving everyone with a whole lot of questions.”
“And the note?”
“Loneliness was beginning to creep in, and I needed a reminder never to go back.” He hands me a yellow sticky note.
Think with your dick.
You deserve this.
She completes you.
I blink at the note, tears stinging my eyes. “What’s this?”
“It’s the sticky note I wrote when I was scared of losing you.”
I don’t know what to say. I can hardly form a single thought.
“Greer, I told myself to wait. That you needed to get your diploma and explore what you want to do before I made my move.” His face twists, looking desperate. “But I can’t risk losing you.” He places a hand over mine on the steering wheel, and all at once, I relax. “I want you, Greer—I love you, even. I just didn’t want my selfishness to deter you from what you wanted to do with your life.”
“Oh, Kell—it’s you. You’re what I want to do with my life. Whether it be sitting in your cabin or working in your clinic, or taking care of Gerry—you’re what I want?—”
His lips press to mine, hard and urgent, and the last shred of doubt I have snaps. I melt against him, my hands grabbing at his shirt, my lips frantic and needy.
The kiss is everything we’ve been holding back, and a promise of what’s to come. A life with a man who’s kind, generous, and hot enough to melt the polar ice caps.
