Page 84 of Until We Come Home

He kisses me like we didn’t spend the whole afternoon in bed, deep and slow, one hand spread wide across my lower back to hold me against him. I sink into it until I’m breathless, and when we finally come up for air, he presses one more kiss to my forehead and I settle against his chest.

His arm comes around me, his heartbeat steady under my ear. I pull the blanket off the back of the couch and over the both of us. On the screen the show is still going, and I feel his laugh rumble through me every time a joke lands, and I can’t imagine wanting to be anywhere else.

Late in the week, Mateo and I walk the cool, windswept Seattle streets to meet his crew at a country bar downtown. Technically his contract has ended, but he’s staying through October while I finish out the fall term with the youth company at Meridian, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

We walk step for step, me in a denim miniskirt and white cowboy boots borrowed from Jada’s closet, Mateo’s arm slung over my shoulders, mine around his waist.

“Okay, about November,” I say, tipping my chin up to look at him. “My agent called again this morning, and I still don’t know what to tell her. Do I try to figure something out with Meridian? Do I take one of the tours she found me? And then there’s you to consider.”

He smiles down at me. “Mia Monroe, are you actually considering putting down permanent roots somewhere?”

“Maybe,” I say with a laugh, bumping my hip into his. “I don’t have it figured out yet. I love this city, but staying would be a massive lifestyle change, which is probably why I keep avoiding making an actual decision. We should talk about it, though, right? The fall’s going to fly by just as fast as the summer did.”

“Yeah, we should,” he says. “I could lock down a full-time spot under Barnes, or head back to my station in Boston. Hell, if your heart’s set on LA, I’ll find a station down south. They’re always hiring for fire season in California.”

“So you’re just going to follow me around now?” I squint up at him as we step around a couple waiting for the crosswalk. “That’s a little stalkerish for a brand-new relationship, don’t you think?”

“Smartass.” He pinches my arm, making me laugh, then continues, “I’m serious, though. I’m leaning Seattle, but I don’t really care which city it is. We’ll figure it out together. I just want to be with you, assuming you want that too.”

“Of course I want that,” I tell him, and I mean it more than I know how to say. “Who knows, maybe I will end up taking a permanent teaching gig. I’ve loved working at Meridian so much it’s shifting my whole perspective on what’s next.”

“Mia,” he says, looking down at me. “I hope you’re not changing your plans just for me. I love everything about who you are, so if touring is what makes you happy, I’m on board with that.”

I gaze up at him, touched, but something fundamental has shifted in me. Maybe it’s just that the lifestyle I loved at twenty-two has lost some of its shine, and the things I thought I wanted back then don’t fit anymore.

And if I’m being realistic, a professional dancer’s career only lasts so long anyway. I always joke about needing a joint replacement by forty after years of skipping proper physical therapy—which I’ll regret forever—but there’s a real truth to it.

The physical toll is no joke, and balancing teaching with performing feels like a whole new path opening up. Mateo looks down at me as we walk, his wavy black hair ruffled by the wind, letting me take my time with it.

“I know you do,” I tell him. “It’s not just you. I don’t know if it’s getting older or just so many years on the road catching up with me, but this summer in Seattle felt like a breath of fresh air. Which is a sentence I never thought I’d say about staying anywhere. We don’t have to make any grand life choices tonight, but it’s been on my mind.”

“It’s been on mine too,” he says, guiding me past a group on the sidewalk. “But you’re right, we’ve got a little time. This is new for both of us. Like I said, picking up shifts anywhere is easy enough for me, and this place is winning me over. But wherever we land, I’m all in.”

“Oh?” I pretend to ponder that. “Does this mean you won’t be down with us taking an official break so I can date around whenever long distance comes up?”

He shakes his head, laughing. “That’s it.” He tickles my side, and I squeal and twist against his arm, wheezing by the time he lets up. “You’re an absolute menace, you know that?”

“You like it though,” I say, grinning up at him.

“I do,” he admits. “And no. I’m keeping you all to myself.”

Where those same words from Derek or anyone else would have sent me running for the hills, with Mateo they settle over my skin like warm sunlight. His arm tightens around my shoulders as he stops us right on the sidewalk, leaning down to kiss me, slow and thorough, until I’m breathless and melting against him, his hands on my cheeks, warm against the chill of the breeze. He knows full well he’s ruined me for anyone else, and I have no intention of letting another man kiss me ever again.

“Hey, lovebirds!”

I pull back with a laugh, and Mateo turns to see James and Callum coming down the street toward us.

“Look at you two.” James grins, adjusting his sling. “Though it’s not like we didn’t see this coming from a mile away. I would’ve put money on it, except the whole station was already betting on when you’d finally admit it.”

“Oh, please, as if you guys knew anything,” Mateo says, rolling his eyes with a reluctant smile.

I fall in beside them as we head toward the bar. Traditional country isn’t usually my scene—songs about pickup trucks and beer don’t do much for me. But from the looks of it, this place is more Dolly Parton and Shania Twain, pink neon and a rainbow flag hanging out front. Gotta love Seattle.

The four of us head inside, greeted by wood paneling, a crowded dance floor, and an all-women country cover band playing a surprisingly solid set. Barnes, Mary, and Rebecca are already tucked into a large table. Ollie and Lainey sit side by side, adorably awkward. Mateo mentioned their budding romance earlier, and I’m thrilled—Lainey is the sweetest girl.

We join them, hugs all around, the news that we’re together making its way around the table in about thirty seconds. Mary is so happy for us she clasps her hands and says it’s like something out of a Disney movie, Rebecca tells me it’s about time somebody was good for Mateo, and Barnes gives him a gruff nod that I’m pretty sure is his version of a hug.

The night rolls on, all of us crowded around the table laughing and trading stories, the pitchers of beer emptying faster than anyone can refill them. I can’t resist the dancing for long, and I drag Mary out once the band starts in on the line dances, the two of us cracking up every time we turn the wrong way while the table whoops and hollers. When the song ends, we take a bow.