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Char

You two lovebirds ready to be rescued?

Now it was Matthew’s turn to blush. He swiftly moved the phone away, glancing at Winnie to ensure she hadn’t seen his sister’s ridiculous text.

Fortunately, she had shifted to pull up her own phone, seemingly unaware of Char’s teasing.

Matthew

Yep. We’re ready when you are.

He thought it best to ignore her “lovebird” comment altogether.

Char

I can be there in 45.

Char

Did Winnie see my lovebird comment?

Char

I hope so.

Matthew once more adjusted the screen to the side.

Matthew

No, and she’s not going to.

Char

LOVEBIRDS LOVEBIRDS LOVEBIRDS

“Is she able to pick us up?” Winnie asked.

Matthew dropped his phone. He’d be sure to delete those texts before he was around Winnie again. “Yep. Forty-five minutes.”

“I guess we’d better get up, then.”

But both of them remained there. Was she as reluctant as he was to end the trip? Or was she ready to go back to real life?

That same feeling of worry tried to burgeon inside of him, but he batted it away as he would a bothersome fly.

“Hey,” Winnie began softly, avoiding his gaze, “before Char gets here, I just wanted to say thank you. For the last few days, I mean. It was…it was really eye opening. Life-changing, even. So, yeah. Thank you for taking the time to help me as much as you did and bringing me along.”

She ended with a shrug, clearly trying to play off her gratitude as nothing special. But to Matthew, it meant everything. And it was certainly enough to prompt him to prolong their time together.

“You’re welcome,” he said with a smile. “But the trip isn’t over yet.”

She looked at him with a questioning gaze.

“I still have one more thing for us to do at Foxwood. Just be sure to wear trousers this time.”

Then he popped out of bed without another word, feeling Winnie’s intrigue which made him all the more excited for what he had planned next.

Winnie didn’t know what to expect from Matthew after he’d said he’d had another surprise for her, but her excitement continued to grow throughout the day.