I SIT ON THE FRONT PORCH, STARING OUT OVER THE LAKE, but my eyes constantly drop to the left, where I built Gwen a small studio of her own.

    I know she’s in there, teaching an online ss, but I wait and watch for her anyway.

    It’s been three months since the fire. Three months of us picking up the pieces of our rtionship and piecing something together that feels awfully stable. More stable than anything either one of us has ever had.

    Gwen promised not to run, and I promised not to let her go, and that’s what we’ve done.

    The truth is, I’d follow her anywhere. If she runs, I run too.

    But we don’t run; we stay.

    I built her a studio where she can teach. We even picked ns that would match the main house, and I built it by hand. Every beam, every nail, ced with her in mind. Inside, the floor is heated, and I painted the walls a softvender. It’s an open space with floor-to-ceiling windows that face out toward the water, flooding the studio with light. It’s a perfect, peaceful, sun-drenched retreat for Gwen, as she makes my home her own.

    Eventually, I hear the door below open and watch as her sh of blond hair appears around the corner. It’s pulled back in a perfectly smooth french braid, and she’s wearing a bright-purple matching yoga set—a crop top and leggings that hug her curves in the best way. She’s got a water bottle in one hand and a coffee mug in the other, rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes.

    She catches sight of me on the balcony and grins. “Are you stalking me?”

    I lift my coffee in a silent cheers. “Of course. It’s one of my favorite pastimes.”

    “Creepy.” She winks. “But I like it.”

    At that, she makes her way back into the house, and soon she’s seated beside me in the Adirondack chair to my right with her coffee in hand.

    “I took a quick phone call after my ss in there.”

    I turn and quirk a brow in her direction. “Oh yeah?”

    She nods, letting out a little hum before taking a sip of her coffee. “Yeah, since I’m finally settling down with you, I should put down some roots in Rose Hill.”

    I swallow. Not sure what to say to that.

    She’s stayed. She hasn’t moved on. She’s kept doing what she’s doing.

    But I have a feeling that she thinks nothing here is really hers.

    She moved into my house, be friends with my friends, and took a temporary teaching job at a studio that isn’t hers. It was part of the reason I built her the studio, so she felt like she had something all her own. A ce she could im.

    Which is why my chest hums with satisfaction when she says, “Kira called from the studio. She was wondering if I might want to buy it.”

    I freeze mid-sip, not sure how to react to that. “And?” I ask, leaving room for her to go in any direction she wants.

    She smiles softly with a subtle shrug. “It might be a good idea. I could see myself doing that. I’ve got my personal studio here, and I can keep teaching my sses in town. It gives me something to do other than just lie around, gawking at my hot-ass boyfriend all the time.”

    That makes me grin. “Your hot-ass boyfriend has something to confess.”

    “Ooh, juicy. Do tell.”

    “Clyde asked if you could be his date, since I’m in the party for Ford and Rosie’s wedding. And I said yes without asking you.”

    She throws her head back andughs. “What a chickenshit! He could have asked me when we were at his ce for dinner two nights ago. But is that going to make you jealous if I show up with him?”

    I chuckle. “Of course, but I’ll keep my temper under control for the sake of appearances.”

    She taps her lips thoughtfully. “Maybe I could take two dates to the wedding. You and Clyde. I’d be the envy of everyone there.”

    I shake my head and grin because this prospect would excite only Gwen. It’s one of the many, many things I love about her.

    A zest for life.

    A ss-half-full attitude.

    Her passion for making margaritas out of limes.

    She has the special gift of making everything around her better.

    Including me.hr

    It’ste and the band at Ford and Rosie’s wedding is fun and loud and making me feel like an old man. I’ve been up doing my groomsman duties with West and Rhys all day long, and now at eleven o’clock, I have officially decided that it’s past my bedtime.

    From where I’m seated at the head table, I can see Gwen dancing with Clyde. Her head thrown back inughter. She glows.

    And she does nothing to help with my train of thought. The one that keeps wandering back to what it might be like to be married to Gwen. What our wedding day would be like. What she’d wear. Where we’d host it.

    I feel like a lovesick teenager who can’t stop dreaming about her wedding day. West even busted me doing a very impromptu online search for engagement rings. Something he’s been teasing me about all day now.

    Chuckling at the memory of him eximing, Yes, Bash! I thought you would never ask! I push to stand and sneak out of the massive, white tent. Seeking a little space and fresh air.

    I catch sight of theke, and like always, I’m drawn to it. Like Gwen, it soothes me. The sound, the sight, the smell. Even the color of it when light reflects off the top—light purple.

    Stepping down the embankment, my dress shoes hit the sand, and I feel instantly ridiculous. Who the hell wears dress shoes at the beach? Gwen would mock me mercilessly for this. So I crouch down to uce them, only toe up short when I hear her voice.

    “Where the hell do you think you’re going? Are you putting your feet in the sand without me?”

    I turn and look over my shoulder at her. The pink dress she’s wearing is dotted in a small floral print and does the most incredible things for her tits.

    Looking her in the eyes—beautiful as they are—has been a struggle all night long. Especially now, with the moonlight highlighting the sinful curve of her cleavage.

    “Are you stalking me? Because I hope so,” I volley, shooting her a yful grin before taking her hand to help her down the embankment.

    “Nah. I just suddenly couldn’t feel the heavy weight of you staring at my chest and got to wondering where you went.”

    I snort at that but don’t bother denying it. Then I bend down to remove her sandals before finally ditching my own shoes and socks.

    Hand in hand, we walk toward the edge of theke, the sounds of waterpping against the sand only slightly louder than the band that ys up the slope.

    Several minutes pass in apanionable silence. I soak up the calm of the night, sinking my toes into the sand. Feeling the earth beneath me. I rx sopletely that the minutes just bleed together, a deep sense of peace coursing through me.

    “I love it here,” she finally whispers.

    “It’s beautiful,” I reply simply.

    “No. I mean here. With you. This life. I love it all.”

    I turn now, taking in her profile. The dip of her pert nose, the roundness in her cheeks. Her longshesid over them as she speaks with her eyes closed.

    It hits me that I’d give her anything. Everything. But hearing that she loves what we’re building? It fills me with so much pride that I could burst.

    “What do you want out of this life together?”

    Her eyes flutter open at my question as she turns her heart-shaped face up to mine. Her gaze rakes over my face as though she’s memorizing this moment. “Adventure. Big, small. I want to go on every adventure life has to offer. With you.”

    Our hands pulse as one. Each of us giving the other a reassuring squeeze at the exact same moment.

    It’s the perfect answer. So perfectly her. An invite to spend my life going on adventures with Gwen?

    “I can’t think of anything better.”