“Cal,” I whispered, “you love this business. It’s who you are.”
“It’s what I do,” Cal corrected, leaning in closer, his hand coming up to cup my jaw, his thumb brushing my cheekbone. “It’s not who I am. Not anymore.”
He searched my eyes, looking for confirmation, looking for me to meet him there in that future.
“I want that,” I confessed, the truth tearing out of me. “I want the trees. I want the quiet.”
Cal smiled then, a small, private thing just for me. “Then we’ll get it. We just have to build the legacy, make the money, and then… we go.”
“We go,” I repeated, feeling a sense of peace settle over me that I hadn’t felt in years.
We met up with Evan later for dinner at a sleek restaurant in the New Town.
He looked wrecked. His tie was undone, his top button popped, and he slumped into the booth like a man who had been at war.
“Four hours,” Evan groaned, dropping his head onto the table. “Four hours of asking me if I’m afraid of the British style of wrestling. I’m going to suplex the next person who asks me a question.”
He looked up, his eyes bleary, and caught the scene in front of him.
Cal was sitting next to me, his arm draped along the back of the booth. His hand was resting on the nape of my neck, his thumb stroking my hairline absentmindedly. We were sitting close, thigh to thigh, completely at ease.
Evan paused. He looked at Cal’s hand. Then he looked at my face, relaxed, happy, unguarded.
A genuine look of relief washed over Evan’s face. He didn’t make a joke. He just smiled, a soft, tired expression that said,Finally.
“So,” Evan said casually, picking up his menu. “How was the honeymoon? Did you guys actually see anything, or did you just stare at each other in different locations?”
“Very funny,” Cal said, though he didn’t stop tracing circles on my neck. “We saw everything. The Castle. The Gardens. Silas tried to ask a bagpipe player if he took requests.”
“I did not,” I laughed, nudging Cal. “I asked him how he breathed for that long without passing out.”
“Same thing,” Cal grinned.
“It’s called enjoying life, Ev. You should try it,” Cal teased.
“I’ll enjoy life when I drop this title,” Evan muttered, waving a breadstick at us. “Seriously though. You look… good. Both of you. It’s weird not seeing Silas look like he’s doing math in his head constantly.”
I froze slightly, but Cal squeezed my neck.
“He’s taking a day off,” Cal said easily. “No math. Just vibes.”
“Well, keep it up,” Evan said, his tone turning sincere for a brief second. “Whatever you guys are doing… keep doing it. It works.”
Hewent back to his menu before the moment could get too heavy. “Now, I’m ordering three appetizers because I missed lunch, and since you two are glowing with the radiance of a thousand suns, Cal is paying.”
“Deal,” Cal said, laughing.
I watched them bicker over appetizers, feeling a warmth that had nothing to do with the heater. This was it. This was the family I chose. And for tonight, in this city, we were untouchable.
We had been awake for a while, tangled together under the heavy hotel duvet, just watching the light shift across the ceiling. Cal was tracing the line of my collarbone with his fingertip, his head resting on his arm.
“Where would we go?” Cal asked quietly, his voice raspy with morning sleep. “If we did it. If we retired to the trees. Where would you want to be?”
I thought about it. I thought about cities, about mountains, about beaches. But my mind only went to one place.
“We could live on my family’s land,” I said softly. “In North Carolina. It’s quiet. Miles of woods. We could build a house out there, far back from the road so no one sees. There’s plenty of room.”
Cal shifted, looking interested. “Isn’t your family… a lot?”
