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Our moans are not restrained, and the sound of him sliding in and out of my body flood the forest—echoing off the mountain. I’ve never felt so close to him. Never felt so wrapped up in the rightness of this primal connection like I am now.

“I’m going to come, Faye.” His hand moves between us, and his thumb does that thing that drives me wild. “I want to feel you come first, baby. Come for me, Faye.”

I’m not sure if it’s his words or his thumb playing with my clit that draw the orgasm from deep within me, only that it comes like a rising tide to wash away all the fear I have of the impending future that looms over us.

The way we connect is real and real is worth fighting for.

Holt starts to thrust up into me in the erratic way he does in the moments before he’s about to come. And then I feel it—the hot spill of him inside me as I’ve never felt it before. I think it makes me even wetter.

Holt kisses me harder, staying buried deep inside me for a long time.

When he pulls out, I shift in his arms to sit in the cage of his lap with his arms tucked tightly around my middle.

“Are you ready for exams?”

I nod. “I think so.”

We both know Holt is ready. He’s just one of those people who is naturally good at everything.

“Are you sure you can’t come with me to Vancouver in July?”

“Dad asked me to wait until August. Besides, we could use the extra money.” I snuggle deeper into him. “But I’ll be there. You know I’ll be there.”

“I know.” Holt kisses the side of my neck. “But we’re pretty set for money, you know?”

We were. Together, we had just over thirty thousand dollars. I’ve saved almost every penny I made these last two and a half years. Holt has also been saving. We’re ready for this. We’ve got this.

“I also probably won’t be able to find a job until September when everyone starts school, so the extra month here will help.” I’d decided to take a year off school. Mainly because I still didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life.

Everyone keeps telling me it’ll come to me. But the older I grow, the more I want Mom’s life. I want a family. I want quiet and simple and slow—and Holt.

“We’re going to be fine, Faye.”

I smile even though Holt can’t see it. Then, looking out over the lake, the words just fall from me. “I wish we could make our life here.”

Holt is silent and tense for a moment. “What do you mean?”

“Just that it’s pretty and peaceful here, is all.” I twist in his arms. “Imagine a house right over there. It’d have a big old porch and a swing just like the one Dad got Mom. We could have kids…”

I realize I’ve never talked about kids with Holt. When we talk about our future, it always revolves around hockey.

My voice croaks. “Do—do you want kids?”

“If you want kids, I want kids.”

I relax in his arms. I know he feels it.

Holt adds, “But I don’t want kids until way later, Faye. I’m talking in my thirties.”

I ignore the pinch in my heart, because of course, that makes sense. Holt has never been anything, but career oriented. I’d never ask something of him that might jeopardize his career in hockey. Never.

“I can wait.”

“Promise?” It’s the first time he’s sounded worried when he’s asked.

I assure, “I promise, Holt.”

“Good.” He drops his head to press a kiss to my cheek again. “I’ll buy this land for you one day, Faye. After I’ve made a shit ton of money playing for the Vikings, we’ll build that house you dream of right here on this land if that’s what you want.”