Page 153 of Surprisingly Us

A moment later, the door swings open. “Everything okay, I heard—” Lettie’s mom starts but her eyes widen when she finds us tangled up on the floor and she shuts the door as quickly as she opened it.

I groan. “Your mom thinks we’re going at it on the floor right now.”

“Who cares? As far as she knows, we’re engaged. At least somebody’s going at it in this house.”

It’s meant to be a joke, but I can tell it reminds her of why we’re here.

“Hey. We’ll do this together, okay?”

She nuzzles into my neck. Even though I hate the thought of her being sad, I love that she looks to me for comfort.

“How can I help?” I ask.

She pulls back to look around the room. “I’m supposed to pack up my room. They want all personal items out so they can stage it for the listing photos.”

With Lettie’s help, I lift her up so we’re both standing.

She picks up a flattened moving box from the stack leaning against the wall, then walks over to her closet. In less than two minutes she’s filled the box with the contents of her closet.

“That’s it? That’s all you had to do? I’m certain my help wasn’t needed.” I shove my hands into my pockets and grin.

“My parents are downstairs likely sorting out who gets what. Dividing up our memories.” She sighs. “I want to soak up every last moment we have here today. Can we do that?”

I hesitate answering because now that I’m here, and the excitement of surprising Lettie is wearing off, I’m not sure what I’ll be able to do.

She notices my hesitation.

Wrapping her arms around my waist, she presses her ear to my chest. “Thank you for coming. It means the world to me. And I know it’s not easy for you.”

I wrap my arms around her back, holding her to me. “You make it easier.”

It’s the truth. While my visit to the children’s hospital yesterday and hearing Madelyn talk about facing her fears had pushed me to consider coming to Lake George, I knew once I gothere, seeing Lettie, being near her would give me the confidence to stay.

When she pulls back, her gaze falls to the opening of my polo shirt.

She smiles up at me. “I like your necklace.”

I release her so she can take a better look. “I went back to that boutique on Fifth Avenue we visited last week.”

Lettie’s finger traces the C on the chain around my neck. “Why’d you pick a C and not an L?”

“I debated, but ultimately I went with C. Lettie is the girl I grew up with, but Colette is the woman you are to me now.”

“It’s a nice touch. Really committing to the role of doting fiancé by putting my initial around your neck.” She smiles and it’s so fucking bright, I know I’ll be able to face anything as long as she keeps looking at me like that. “It’s very Taylor Swift of you.”

Should I tell her that I’ll wear it even when we’re done pretending because she owns me now? And that I’m hers, even if I don’t deserve for her to be mine.

“Did you bring trunks?” she asks.

“Yeah.”

“Then you should get changed.”

“It’s not even ten o’clock.”

Lettie laughs, pulling away so she can grab her swimsuit out of her luggage.

“You know the rope swing will be packed in less than an hour.”

---