“I did,” Elise said, nodding. “We are now boarding at Gate 12.”
Harper smiled and hooked her arm with Elise’s. “Well, then how about we go for a quick visit to London?”
Epilogue
One year later
“I knew it was too good to be true,” Elise muttered, finally scrolling through the article her sister had sent her just yesterday before they arrived at EcoCamp Patagonia in Torres del Paine National Park, where the service was basically nonexistent.
She would’ve checked it sooner if it hadn’t been for Harper kissing her neck. Now she wished she hadn’t checked the article at all.
Across the screen, the headlines screamed:The Sapphic MatchorThe Never Rose Show: Megan and Jamie Reveal They’ve Been in Love All Along.
“I can’t fucking believe this,” she uttered, not sure if she should cry or scream or throw her phone against the curved wall of the geodesic dome. “Megan is obviously trying to get some sort of publicity from this. Which doesn’t make sense. She’s a pediatric surgeon. Aren’t they supposed to have hearts of gold?”
Elise huffed and dropped her head into the fluffy blanket. When she looked up again, her eyes were hazy. She blinked until her vision cleared and she could glimpse the mountain rising like jagged teeth ahead of her. It was beautiful. Too beautiful to be worrying about a stupid article. Next to her, Harper was lounging on her back. She had one arm behind her head and the other on the back of Elise’s thigh. Just like Elise, she was completely naked.
“It’s not your problem anymore,” Harper said, tracing a lopsided kite along Elise’s leg, which of course made her skin erupt in goosebumps. She nearly forgot all about the article, butthen Harper’s fingers stopped momentarily, and Elise suddenly remembered the part where Megan had said, “We weren’t technically asked to continue the show. But we agreed to keep going.”
Hadn’t it been Megan and Jamie’s idea?
“And I think Megan confessing is probably because she has a heart of gold,” Harper added. “Maybe the whole thing has been weighing on her conscience.”
Harper was right. Not just the Megan conscience part but the other part that it wasn’t Elise’s problem. Not anymore. Not since she’d resigned. And goodness, it had felt like the most freeing thing in the world. Like her wings, which had been clipped for the last three seasons, had finally grown long enough to fly. And fly she did. Right into Harper’s arms, who had moved in with her after they’d gotten back from London.
The year that had followed had been a whirlwind, in the best way. Harper had been invited to join a wildlife expedition team filming a Disney+ nature series, which had taken her overseas less than a handful of times, but never for long. Elise had used those stretches wisely and had thrown herself into a little passion project. A sapphic spinoff ofSurvivorthat had been simmering in her head for years.
When they were together, they were inseparable. Either naked in bed, fingers intertwined, saying nothing at all. Or on the sofa. Or in the shower. And when they made the effort to integrate into society, they usually spent Saturday mornings at Silver Lake Farmer’s Market, filling a basket with fresh croissants and heirloom tomatoes, and soft balls of burrata. Or enjoying brunch at the corner café on Sunset Boulevard or taking evening walks around Echo Park Lake. There were movie nights sprawled on the sofa, dinners with Elise’s sister and kids, and once they’d gone holidaying in Greece.
“You know,” Harper said, “I was actually thinking we should probably start planning our wedding soon. We’ve been engaged for what? Like a year. It seems like we’re just stalling.”
Elise glanced back over her shoulder and shot her a look so fierce Harper burst into laughter. Harper was the one putting off the planning, not Elise.
“Ha,” Elise said, rolling her eyes.
“I’m serious,” Harper replied, smiling. She squeezed Elise’s thigh and let her palm drift higher until it settled in the dip where her thigh met her ass. “Let’s set a date.”
Elise was shocked. “Really?” she gasped, flipping over like a hamburger patty on the grill. “You really want to set a date?”
“I do,” Harper said. “I’ve always had this vision of you in a pearl white—”
Elise didn’t let her finish. She was up and on top of Harper in a second, kissing her, sliding her tongue against Harper’s in a way that wouldn’t be considered PG at all.
This was everything Elise had wanted. It didn’t even matter that it had taken ten years—and two marriages, though Elise liked to think of those as trial periods that had led her here all along—for her to realize that the sandy blonde-haired Brit with those sun-kissed arms and warm honey eyes would one day be the only person she wanted in her bed and in her heart.
Elise moved her lips to Harper’s neck, which Harper arched to give her better access. She was nearly dizzy with want for her, but then again, when wasn’t she? Elise’s body lived in a constant state of tingling, which got way worse every time Harper laid a hand on her leg, or kissed her ear, or rubbed circles against her back.
“I can’t wait to marry you,” Elise muttered, loving the way Harper’s hips pressed upward against hers. She doubled down and rolled her hips over Harper’s, but before they could settleinto a lazy, delicious rut, Elise moved south, all the way over the edge of the bed.
“Nooo,” Harper moaned. “I like having you on top of me.” But Elise knew she would be moaning for a whole different reason in a minute.
“Are you going to wear a suit or a dress?” she asked, kissing Harper’s ankle first.
“I’ll wear whatever you want me to,” Harper replied, arching her back and rolling her hips forward as Elise gave a sneaky little taster and reached up to pinch Harper’s nipple.
“A suit,” Elise decided. “You look so fucking hot in a suit.” Which couldn’t be more true. In fact, the image of Harper waiting under a jasmine arch in an ivory suit made her center throb almost painfully. But it was Harper’s turn. She’d have hers in a minute. So, she moved her lips up to Harper’s calf, felt the muscle tremble beneath her mouth, and then slid her tongue over to her right thigh. When Elise reached the tendon where Harper’s leg met her hip, she couldn’t help but smile when moan after moan started rippling from Harper’s throat.
“I’ve barely even started,” Elise teased. Then, because she really enjoyed teasing Harper during sex, she blew hot breath against Harper’s center, and a whole new wave of moans crashed out of her.
