Page 79 of In the Dust

I let out a small laugh. “Yes, the coffee shop.” He knows this was a regular place for Gina and I. “Want me to take you there in the morning?”

A siren wails in the distance. “Is it always this loud?” Colton groans, pulling me in closer.

I tilt my head, looking out the window. “When I first moved here, it took me months to get used to not hearing crickets at night. It’s so damn loud. All the time.”

He chuckles, and the sound fills my heart. “I need to get some headphones then, because I won’t sleep a wink if it’s like this twenty-four seven.

My eyes roam his face. “Who said we were sleeping this weekend?”

I belly laugh as he rolls me over on the fluffy comforter, hovering over me. The night is spent carefree, not thinking about our life at home.

It’s what I’ve always done, ignore the things that hurt me. But now with Colton here, I know it’s just temporary, and maybe that’s what I needed, just a little escape.

* * *

The streets are buzzingat seven in the morning, and I link my arm through Colton’s as we weave through the crowds on the way to the coffee shop.

Colton walks up to the counter, roaming over the vast menu. I know this is foreign to him. The coffee shop back home consists of a glass pot inside the gas station. “You can’t milk a fucking almond,” he whispers in my ear.

“That’s what I always say!”

He orders two large cups of black coffee with a swirl of honey, but we don’t stay inside; he’s itching to explore the city. Colton’s never really left Georgia, and I am so thankful to be able to share this adventure with him.

“Where to next?”

I wrap my arms around myself. “Well, you can’t come to New York and not see the Statue of Liberty. It’s a sin.”

“Oh, really?” he teases, pulling off his jacket to place it around my arms.

The gesture makes me smile. I had forgotten how quickly it cools down up here. “Yup, Ellis Island too.”

We take an Uber to Battery Park in lower Manhattan, where we’ll be able to catch a ferry over to Liberty Island.

After finding an empty spot to stand, Colton scoots in close behind me. He places both his arms around me, resting his hands on the top railing. I grab his left bicep and pull my phone out with my free hand.

“Take a picture with me.” I raise my phone up as high as I can.

Colton lets out a laugh. “Here.” He leans down, resting his chin on my shoulder. He tilts his ball cap back so you can see his eyes.

“Now let's take a silly one,” I say as I stick out my tongue. Colton pretends to pick his nose right as I snap the picture. “You’re so gross.”

“You love it.” He leaves a lingering kiss on my temple.

I turn around and look up at him as I lock my hands together behind his back. “I love you, Colton.”

“I love you too, Dixie.” The way he says it while staring deep into my soul tells me he means it wholeheartedly.

I nestle my face into his chest. “Thank you for planning this trip. Although I didn’t wanna come, I needed it, and you knew that.”

I tilt my head up, puckering my lips as he moves one of his hands from the railing to my back, rubbing up and down.

He plants a gentle kiss on my lips. “It’s just getting started. Wait until tonight.” A mischievous grin crosses his face.

A warm feeling starts to build in my core as I think about what he has planned for later. It definitely has to be the jacuzzi and strawberries he’s talking about.

* * *

It’safter one o’clock when we exit the ferry back at Battery Park. “There’s one more place I want to take you.”

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