“No.” Elin presses him back in his seat. “I want a little time with him. He’s been working a lot the past few days. You two relax. It’s your celebration, remember, sötnos?”
Ryder’s brows pinch. “Okay?”
Elin gives me a wink and disappears inside. The moment she’s gone, Ryder scooches his chair closer and sets a hand high on my thigh. His eyes are on me, traveling my body.
“It looks even better on you than I thought it would, Willa.”
I grin. Ryder surprised me with the dress I’m wearing. It’s saffron yellow wrap style, not unlike the infamous shirt, with a sash at the waist as red as the napkin dress. I uncross, then switch my legs as Ryder’s eyes darken.
“So, my lumberjack. What took so long? Did you and Papa B decide to fetch dinner from the river again? Slay any black bears or mountain lions on your way home?”
Ryder gives me a look as he pops more food in his mouth and crunches. “I didn’t hear you complaining about my mountain manliness when you got us lost on that hike and I was able to navigate us back to the A-frame using the night stars.”
I lob a cranberry at him which successfully drops down the front of his flannel. I raise a celebratory fist. “I did not get us lost. Getting lost would imply I knew where I was going in the first place.”
Ryder snorts. “Fair. Hey, you have something—” He points to a spot over his sternum, mirroring where this alleged substance is on my body. “Right there.”
“Sure. Never heard that one before.” I refuse to glance down at my chest and get my nose bopped. Since we’re not into severely torturing each other like we used to, we’re reduced to harmless pranks like this that usually lead to making out and sex. Neither sex nor making out are happening right now, so I’m not taking the bait.
“I’m serious, Sunshine. It’s fig jam, and it’s about to drip onto your new dress.”
“Nope.”
Ryder sighs and glances over to the glass doors, peering at the kitchen where his parents are. “Fine,” he grumbles.
I open my mouth to say something smart, but a gasp leaps out as he bends and his warm tongue slides along the swell of my breast. A tiny bite makes my thighs clamp together.
Ryder straightens and kisses me. “Stubborn woman,” he mutters against my lips. I taste him. Warm, decadent Ryder. And…fig jam.
“Dammit.”
He shrugs and smiles as he sits back. “Sometimes I’m not fucking with you, Sunshine. Sometimes.”
I stare at him and feel my grinch heart grow bigger and bigger. It’s almost like it’s not even a grinch heart anymore, no frigid, rigid corners. Just a wide-open, safe, loved space. “Ryder.”
“Hm?”
I interlace my fingers with his where they rest on my thigh, and take a long slow breath. “We need to talk about something.”
Worry tightens his features. “Is everything okay?”
“Mhmm.” I swallow emotion thickening my throat and blink away threatening tears.
He leans forward to gentle my cheek. “Then why are you crying?”
“I’m not,” I whisper hoarsely.
A soft smile breaks across his face. “Sunshine, what is it?”
Clearing my throat, I reach behind me, inside my bag. There’s a manila envelope, tied tight at the top. I set it on the table and slide it toward Ryder.
Ryder stares at it, his hand falling from my face.
“What is this, Willa?”
“Open it.”
Ryder’s eyes dance up to mine before they drop to the envelope once more.
“Go on,” I tell him.
His hands grasp the twine and quickly unspool it. Carefully, he reaches inside and pulls out a hunk of papers, still warm from the printer. A noise catches in his throat when he sees the insignia on the top.
Reign FC.
“Willa,” he whispers. A loud laugh of joy jumps out of him as he sweeps me up and holds me in his arms. “You got signed, Sunshine!”
I nod, smiling ridiculously wide. His kiss is long and passionate, his hug the lung-squeezing, bone-crushing intensity I live for.
“Oh my God, Willa, I’m so proud of you. I’m so happy for you.”
I slide my fingers through his hair and steal one more kiss before I wiggle, my cue for him to put me down. Our eyes hold as I steeple my fingers over the envelope. “Where’s Reign based out of, Lumberjack?”
Ryder frowns in confusion. “Washington. Tacoma, Washington.”
I tip my head and smile. “Huh. Tacoma, Washington, you say? Right on the water? Halfway between Olympia and Seattle? That Tacoma?”
Ryder’s brow furrows deeper but a small smile peeks out, too. “Yes, Willa.”
“Hm.” I tap my fingers on the envelope. “Well, I don’t know my way around there. I was hoping I wouldn’t be entirely on my own when I move up there next month.”
Ryder’s body stills.
My voice wobbles, but I catch it. “Would you mind checking that envelope further, seeing if there’s anything that might give me some reassurance that I’ll get settled how I hope to?”
Ryder gives me a cautious look as he reaches again for the envelope, slowly pressing his hand inside. His fingers search, he ducks his head. Then a deadly calm washes over him.
“Willa,” he whispers.
“Yes, Ryder.” My voice is thick with tears as I lose the battle. My rare show of makeup is ruined, mascara running, blush smudged.
“Th-there’s a key in there.”
I nod. “I know.”
Ryder’s head snaps up. “What is this?”
I take one step closer to him, clasping his face inside my hands. “I was wondering, Ryder Bergman, lumberjack love of my life, if you wouldn’t mind moving to Washington State with me. I found a bungalow for rent right near the water and a bunch of hiking grounds nearby. It’s the perfect spot for a mountain man like you to hunker down and start his own outdoorsman business, don’t you think?”
Ryder drops his head to my shoulder, and his hug is fierce. His lips press softly against my neck, my cheeks, my lips.
“Is that a yes?”
Ryder pulls away, his smile a thousand times more brilliant than the sunset behind it. “It’s a hell yes, Willa. It’s the best yes of my life.”
Our kisses are unhurried, passionately tender, as the sun drifts below the horizon behind us. I cry and laugh and feel every single feeling I can. Because I want to remember this moment, even when our love is blissfully old and splendidly weathered. I want to close my eyes and feel the memory of the moment only when it’s us became only us, forever.
THE END