“Why are you so fucking perfect?” He laughs. “I have to listen to the Wolinskis gushing at each other all day long—that crap makes my stomach turn.”
I focus back on the cars in front of us, turning his words over inmy mind, playing them back on loop. My heart feels so full… I can hardly believe this is happening.
“So…” He looks at me. “You wanna spill your guts, too? You can’t leave a guy hanging like this.”
“You still haven’t told me where we’re going.”
“Okay…”
I want him to understand how much this all means to me. I’ve never truly been in love before, and he needs to understand—once he opens that door, it’s never swinging shut.
THE MINUTES FLY BY, THEtrees growing taller and broader with every passing mile, until a board surges into view.Welcome to West Virginia.
And just like that, everything clicks into place.
“You’re taking me to your house?”
A smile plays on his lips. “Don’t actions speak louder than words?”
We turn off at the next exit, passing through a town and veering off down a tangled lane, when suddenly, we’re in the middle of nowhere. He pulls up next to a gate, leaps out of the car, and opens his trunk. By the time he circles back to open my door for me, he’s strapped into a hiking backpack.
“Follow me.”
He holds out his hand, leveraging me out of my seat before pulling me up and hooking an arm under my knees to cradle me against him. As he carries me through the forest, I take in each small line and angle of his face.
“I can walk, you know.”
“Yeah, and it’d take you hours.”
“Wanna bet? Put me down and I’ll race you!”
“You don’t even know the way. Just enjoy the ride… and the view.” He winks at me.
“All I can think is how weird you are.”
“And you like it that way.”
“I like risk—and I’m excited to see whether you trip on a root and split your head open, or something.”
“I can’t believe it took me so long to realize how great you are,” he drawls.
He gives me a quick squeeze.This is unreal.I’m still a little on edge, but I feel myself loosening, relaxing into the moment. He’s already shattered every single one of my walls, anyway.
As we weave our way through the trees, a comfortable silence falls around us. I listen to the wind rustling the leaves, the birds chirping on the forest floor. I’m a city girl, and I’ve never been anywhere like this before. I’ve never stepped foot into the wild. Once upon a time, in my pre-Lewis life, I would’ve hated the idea. But right here and now, I catch myself actually enjoying it. After the chaos of the past few months, it all feels so overwhelmingly peaceful.
“Here we go.”
He stops in his tracks and I glance around us, confused.
“Have you brought me here to die?”
“Even with that cast, I think you’d catch up with me.”
“You betcha.”
I squint. Trees as far as the eye can see, and not a single thing more. I glance up at him. The way he’s looking at me like that makes me want to kiss him.
“So…”
