Sienna squeezed Beau’s hand. “Please sit down.” Beau remained standing until Sienna sighed, and he returned to the bar stool. “It’s over. I handled it. We never were together... We were just kind of each other’s person for a while, that’s all.”

When Sienna saw Beau’s Adam’s apple bob and his lips flatten into a long, thin line, she knew he didn’t like that explanation. “You’re upset? About me and Dylan?”

“I don’t have a right to be,” Beau said, flipping through the dictionary.

Sienna reached out, shutting the book. “I hate that there are women in this world who have been with you the way I’ve dreamed about since I was seventeen,” she began, placing her hand on his. “But you know you’ve always had me in a way Dylan, or anyone, ever could.”

With his eyes still focused on the dictionary, Beau’s full lips reappeared in the shape of a smile.

“And I’m happy you’re back,” Sienna said, trying to coax away his remaining jealous unease.

He raised his eyes to hers. “As your boyfriend? Or as your person?”

“You know you’re more than both of those things.”

It was easy for the words to slip out of her mouth when they were full of such veracity. Because Beau wasn’t just her friend, her boyfriend, her person.You’re my everything,Sienna wished to tell him but felt the need to hold back, as if the words would forever give him the upper hand.

But Sienna silenced that train of thought when Beau pushed the Scrabble board to her. “What about your valentine?”

Confused, Sienna looked at the board.

“You cheated,” Sienna said, seeing “valentine” spelled out where several other words had been. But she couldn’t keep the smile off her face and pushed the board to the side, standing on her toes and pulling Beau in for a kiss.

She could never say no to anything Beau asked to be in her life. Because everything meant the good and bad. He could be the boy who broke her heart and the man who returned to piece it back together. Beau could be this year’s Valentine and hopefully the next one and the next one, until before they knew it, Sienna would find that Beau had been her forever Valentine all along. He could gift her a clear, starry sky on a rainy night. But Sienna could only hope, from deep within her, he wouldn’t be the one to bring the storm clouds too.

chaptertwelve

“For fuck’s sake, Beau,”Chase exclaimed with his head in the fridge. “It’sDisney World!”

Beau pressed his palm down onto the marble countertop. “I’m not asking for a week-long comped vacation with Donald Duck, Chase. I want a few hours with no crowds for some sick kids, and I’llpay.What exactly did the Golden Penny people say?”

Chase turned from the fridge with a beer in his hand. “Not to get your hopes up. She should be calling any minute.”

Beau pushed off the counter and folded his hands behind his head. “I don’t need their money or anything. I only want their muscle.”

Chase shook his head. “Look, she said there are a lot of moving parts. If she had more—”

“I don’t have more time,” Beau insisted. “I need an answer today. Or by tomorrow at the latest.”So that I can come up with a plan B for a Valentine’s Day present.

“Beau, you don’t even have kids. I mean, if you do, and this is something we need to get ahead of—”

“Would you shut up?”

Chase ran a hand over his face. “Alright, look, I know this past year you’ve sort of been... on edge. You came off a bad injury. You played for a lackluster team—whichwasyour choosing, by the way.”

The intercom beeped, and Beau moved to the hall to answer it.

“Mr. Walker? It’s Joe from downstairs. I’ve got some men here with a... ” The doorman paused. “Well, they say it’s an ice cream machine. And boxes—a lot of boxes—of Dole Whip mix.”

“Awesome. Thanks, man. Send them up.”

“Dole Whip?” Chase asked from the kitchen. When Beau returned, he found him leaning against the counter with his arms folded across his chest, his face twisted in confusion. “Dole Whip. Disneyland. What exactly did I miss?”

“Not for me,” Beau said. “I hate pineapple.”

“Beau, what—”

Chase was cut off by the doorbell, and Beau practically pranced back into the hallway, greeting the two delivery men and Joe. “This also came for you, sir.”