Page 37 of Reeve

“Youwere there,” I tell him. “That’s all that matters.”

“To you, maybe,” he says. “Your dad’s gonna be pissed.”

“My dad’s busy! They’re all busy!” I say. “Harper has two kids. Tanner has two with another on the way. Parker has the twins,andEmily Anne. Sawyer and Ivy have the new baby. Isabella’sstilltrying to figure out work and motherhood, and Hunter’s trying to be the best at-home dad there ever was. No one would’ve been able to make it, and they all would’ve felt bad saying no.” I lean up to kiss him again. “Instead, I had you all to myself. It was perfect.”

Aaron kisses the tip of my nose, then takes my rolling suitcase and leads us to the terminal.

A-hem!

Hello, reader!

HELLO! READER!

You! Yes, you!

Now, follow me, and follow me quickly because you’ve missed a lot in four years, and I only have a couple of minutes to explain where we’re at before we’re in his car headed home to the Stewart Campground in Dyea.

We had a great time that New Year’s Eve four years ago, but we ultimately decided to keep things loose…he didn’t ask me to be his girlfriend that night, and I didn’t pressure him to be my boyfriend. We shared some heart-stopping, dick-hardening, pussy-soaking kisses that night, said goodbye at one o’clock in the morning, and three days later I left for college.

But you know how his father lived (and still lives!) in Anchorage? Well, Aaron came up to see his dad with more devotion than ever before. He must have been up in Anchorage once or twice a month that winter and spring. He came up to Anchorage every damn day he could.

And anytime he texted me that he was in town?

I ran to him with wings on my heels.

Here’s something I learned really quickly: without the rest of my family around, I was much more—hmm…let’s say…—free-spirited.

We were free-spirited on the couch in the basement apartment at his dad’s house, in my dorm room freshman and sophomore years when my roommate was out, and sometimes—if we were celebrating something special—in a posh room at the Hyatt House Hotel because (sigh) Anchorage has themostbeautiful hotels. We were free-spirited in the back of his dad’s truck more than once, in a frat house bathroom at least twice, and once—I’m sorry!—in the boob cube at the Anchorage Airport (inappropriate, I know…)because we needed a private space before he jumped on his plane home.

By the time I moved into my own apartment off-campus for junior and senior years, Aaron may as well have been on the lease. He had a key of his own, of course, and visited me every other weekend, at least. By then, we’d said, “I love you” about a million times and made love a million more. Aaron Adams was my person, and I was his.Thatwas in stone.

And the summers? Oh, Lord, the summers wereamazing.

I worked odd hours at the clinic and for Belinda at ambulatory services, so sometimes I’d just crash at Aaron’s place in town for a few days on end. It was just easier, I guess. My things found their way to Aaron’s house, and his space became mine. And little by little, my life moved in tandem with his. I was one half of the being that was Aaron and Reeve, and he was the other half.

I guess the next normal development would be for Aaron to propose, but when he got down on one knee five minutes after I graduated last week, I shocked the hell out of him by yelling:

“No, no, no! Not now! Not here! Get up!”

He looked a little sad and a lot confused, so I put my arms around his neck and told him that I loved him more than it was possible for one human being to love another.

But I also asked him if he could save that question for Skagway. For home.

I’d be home in three days, after all.

And my Aaron—my sweet, thoughtful, loving man—said that yes, if that’s what I wanted, he could wait.

So now you’re all caught up.

Phew! Just in time!

“You get in,” says Aaron as we approach the truck. “I’ll pop your bag in the back.”

I sit down in the passenger seat. I’m buckling my seat belt just as Aaron swings into his seat beside me.

“All good?” he asks.

“Great,” I say, grinning at him. “Christmas Eve at Hunter and Isabella’s cabin is the best.”

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