Page 31 of Vegas Heat

I blow out a breath. “I wish I could. My mom is coming to visit me, and her flight gets in close to the same time as mine so I can just drive us both home from the airport. This was just supposed to be a quick trip to town to meet with my buddy about a job opportunity, and I booked an extra night to meet my friends for dinner.”

“Your mom is coming to visit you?” she asks.

“Yeah. She’s going to love you.” The words are out before I can stop them, but they feel as natural as breathing. Of course she’ll meet my mom someday. Just as I’ll meet her dad, and maybe her mom down the line when she’s ready to forgive her. “She always hated my ex, and I guess I should’ve listened. She’s a great judge of character.”

“How long’s she staying?”

“Tomorrow through Friday, so all week.” I take a sip from the bottle of wine and hand it back to Gabby.

“Don’t you have to work?”

I nod. “And give my notice. And pack up my place.”

“What will she do while she’s in town?”

“Spend her days either shopping or reading at the beach under a giant umbrella, and spend her evenings cooking me all my favorite meals.”

“She sounds amazing,” she says.

I smile as I think about my mom. She’s my biggest cheerleader, and she’s also candid and honest with me even when the conversations are difficult, and I’m very interested to hear what she has to say about me playing again before I confirm with Troy. Even though I’ve already made up my mind, I’m still curious to get her take on it. “She is.”

We finish the bottle of wine between the two of us, and we fall asleep on the mat in the back of her truck for a while. I wake first just as the first dawn of light starts to paint the horizon.

When I shift, she jolts awake, too, and we both sit up and lean our backs on the rear panel. I toss an arm around her shoulder and she leans into me as we stare silently together at the landscape. Dawn turns toward the sunrise. It’s gorgeous here, and I look around at the red rocks where this canyon derives its name.

As I glance around, I can’t help but think that we’ll be back here together someday.

Of course we’ll be back. This is where we fell in love.

Thathasto be what’s coursing through me right now.

One of the things my previous relationships always lacked was the ease in which I find myself with Gabby. She’s lighthearted and fun, my perfect match in a lot of ways despite the differences looming between us. I want to make this work. IfI can wake up with this same feeling one more day, that would make it all worth it.

I think back to my time with Stacy. Not once in the five years we were together did we drive out to the middle of the desert and fall asleep in the back of my truck after staying up too late talking and stargazing.

Not once.

She wasn’t right for me, but I suspect Gabby just might be.

I hear a quiet sniffle, and when I glance over at her, I see her brushing away her silent tears.

“What’s wrong?” I whisper.

She lifts a shoulder. “Sunrises always make me a little emotional. I’m not sure why. The beauty of the Earth, the gratitude for another day.”

“Oh, Sunshine,” I murmur, thinking how appropriate that nickname is for her even though it just sort of spilled out of me when I first said it.

“It’s something else today. Today it signifies the end of our time together. I don’t want it to end. I don’t want the sun to rise.”

I pull her in closer to me, squeezing her shoulders. “This isn’t the end,” I say softly, pressing my lips to the top of her head. “It can’t be.”

I feel emotion clogging my throat, too, an unfamiliar and strange feeling that tells me just how deep I already am into this thing with her.

It’s a little terrifying, if I’m being honest, but we’re jumping in together.

That makes it feel like we’re both going to be okay.

We don’t have time for one last bang once we’re back at my hotel. I have enough time to toss my clothes in my suitcase and grab her into my arms as that same emotion closes up my throat.

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