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I smile and give his chest a light push. “Finish packing and I promise I’ll make it worth it when you’re done.”

His eyes darken a little. “You should’ve led with that.”

By the time he finishes packing, we’ve gone over enough of the schedule to know what the first stretch looks like. He leaves for Portland tomorrow, then Seattle and Denver. There’s a break a few weeks in that should give him enough time to come home, and we find one later date that might work for me to meet him if things at Black Fern cooperate. We don’t try to map out every week or make promises about plans that could easily change.

For now, knowing we already have a couple of chances to see each other makes the next few months feel a lot more manageable.

Once the suitcase is finally zipped, Zander sits beside me on the edge of the bed and looks toward the wall between our apartments. “It’s kind of ridiculous that we still pay for two places.”

I follow his gaze. “Considering how much of your stuff is already at mine?”

“And yours is here.” He reaches for my hand and laces his fingers through mine. “I’m not suggesting we figure that out tonight, especially when I leave tomorrow. I just don’t think we need to keep pretending we live completely separate lives.”

I smile. “Probably not. We can talk about it when you get back.”

“Yeah. When I get back.”

There’s no hesitation in the way he says it, and for once we don’t feel the need to ask what happens months from now. We don’t have to decide tonight where we’ll eventually live or how every part of this is going to work. There’s going to be a later, and both of us are already planning on being here for it.

I glance toward the suitcase. “So, you’re finally packed?”

“Finally.”

I turn back to him and slide closer, running my hand up his chest. “Then I believe I promised to make it worth your while.”

His eyes darken as he pulls me close. “You did.”

“Wouldn’t want to send you off disappointed.”

That gets a low laugh out of him right before he pulls me onto his lap and kisses me.

Tomorrow morning, he leaves for Portland. After that come more cities, more shows, and months of figuring out how to do this from a distance.

The wall between our homes used to separate two neighbors who could barely stand each other. Somewhere along the way, it became part of how we fell in love.

Maybe when he gets home, we’ll finally figure out what to do with it.

Because he is coming home.

And this time, we both know exactly where that is.

EPILOGUE - ZANDER

Approximately One Year Later

By the time I get home, Ruby’s car is in the driveway, and every light in the front of the house is on.

I’ve only been gone nine days, which barely qualifies as a tour anymore after Europe and the four-month run last year, but nine days is still long enough that pulling into our driveway feels good. I’m still not completely used to thinking of it that way.

Our driveway.

I park behind Ruby, grab my duffel and guitar from the back, and make it as far as the porch before the front door opens.

She stands there barefoot, wearing black leggings and an oversized T-shirt that I’m almost positive used to belong to me. Her red hair is piled on top of her head in a loose knot, and the sight of her hits me with the same immediate pull it always does.

“Were you watching for me?”

“No.”