Page 57 of Finding Forever

“Do you get many people living rough out here?” I asked.

“I’m sure there are, but I haven’t seen them.”

Riley didn’t say anything. He studied the trees around us, scowling into the deep, dark shadows. “We should keep moving.”

I backed out of the shelter. “You’re right. We’ll mark this on our map and find the cave.”

Sherlock stood patiently beside Riley, watching what was happening with an intensity that I hadn’t seen in a long time. As soon as we moved away from the shelter, Sherlock visibly relaxed.

Thirty minutes later, we were walking along a rocky ledge, searching for the cave.

Riley rested against the cliff face. “The view from here is incredible.”

I looked across the rugged landscape. Below us, pine, spruce, and oak trees formed a blanket of green as far as the eye could see. A river wound its way through the forest, heading west toward Willow Lake.

Riley pulled out his phone and started taking photos. He turned to me and grinned. “Smile!”

As soon as Riley took the photo, I replaced my smile with a frown. “Watch where you’re stepping. The ledge is narrow.”

Riley looked down at his feet and moved closer to Sherlock. “What would I do without you?”

My frown deepened. “You’d be working in your cottage, not worried about a stalker.”

Riley stepped toward me, raised his hands, and gently cupped my jaw. “But then I wouldn’t have met you or Sherlock.”

His closeness made my heart pound. There was so much I wanted to say, but the words caught in my throat. Since Mike died, I’d locked my heart away, too scared to let anyone close. Riley had changed me in ways that even I didn’t understand.

I leaned into his touch, savoring the warmth of his palm against my skin. His eyes searched mine, filled with a mix of hope and uncertainty. Every part of me was drawn to him, the walls I’d built around my heart crumbling under the weight of his gaze.

His hand left my face, and I felt the loss immediately. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. We’d better see where Alex has gone.”

“No, Riley, wait.” I reached for his hand, my fingers wrapping around his. “It’s not what you think. I’m?—”

Before I could finish, he looked at me with his intense blue eyes, and I couldn’t hold back anymore. I closed the distance between us, my heart racing as I tilted my head and pressed my lips to his. The kiss was electric. A surge of emotions flooded through me—fear, longing, and a fierce protectiveness that I couldn’t deny.

Riley’s lips were soft, yielding, and I felt him respond, his free hand moving to the back of my neck, pulling me closer. The world around us faded away, leaving only the sensation of our kiss and the rapid beating of our hearts.

When we finally pulled apart, I was breathless. I rested my forehead against Riley’s and enjoyed the feel of him pressed against my body. “I’ve wanted to do that for so long,” I confessed, my voice barely above a whisper.

Riley’s eyes sparkled with surprise and something deeper—something that made my heart swell with love. “Me too,” he said softly. “I thought I was the only one.”

“No,” I shook my head, my thumb brushing over his cheek. “You make me feel like I’m?—”

Before I could say more, Alex’s voice cut through the moment, shattering the bubble of intimacy. “Found it!”

We pulled back slightly, our hands still intertwined. Riley glanced in the direction of Alex’s voice, then back at me, a shy smile playing on his lips. “We should find Alex.”

I nodded, squeezing his hand gently before letting go. “Yeah, let’s go.”

As we walked toward Alex, the warmth of Riley’s touch lingered on my skin and, for the first time in a long while, I felt a glimmer of something I thought I’d lost forever—hope.

forty-one

RILEY

The following afternoon, I heard the stairs behind me creak. “You don’t have to tiptoe around me,” I told Eric. “I won’t shush you if you make a noise.”

“How did you know it was me?”

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