Page 72 of Free

“What is this?”

The wind carries the scent of salt and the sound of waves lapping against the pier. Nick leads me to the edge, the planks creaking beneath our feet, and I’m struck by the familiarity of it—the echoes of that first meeting, the weight of all the moments that came after. The sunset paints the water in strokes of gold and lavender, the horizon stretching endlessly before us. Nick sets the picnic basket down and takes my hands, his fingers warm despite the cool evening air.

“The last time we were here, I promised we’d start something when I got home.” Nick’s voice rumbles, low and warm. “But I broke that promise.”

“Not completely,” I say, pressing a hand to his chest. “We’re here now.”

“We are here now. But we should have been here sooner. Today, the look on Kate’s face, it was everything I thought I wassaving you from. I didn’t want you to ever go through the pain she’s in, losing someone she loves so deeply.”

“But I did lose you, remember? For a whole year, you were gone.”

“But I’m here now,” he says, with that shit-eating grin fully activated.

“You’re here now.” I meet his gaze, hoping he can see how much he means to me. “I don’t think I could handle losing you again.”

“You won’t, Charlie. I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”

“Promise?”

Nick nods, trailing his fingers through my hair. “How could I leave the best thing that ever happened to me? If I could bottle the way I feel when I’m with you, the world wouldn’t need stars.”

“God, I love how cheesy you are.”

Every time he lets his guard down, even just for a moment, it feels like he’s giving me a gift he doesn’t even realize he’s offering.

I cup his cheek. His eyes meet mine, open and unguarded. I kiss him, softly at first, but it deepens quickly, the warmth between us growing, his hands sliding to my waist, pulling me closer. There's an urgency in the way he kisses me tonight, like he needs to feel alive, like he’s claiming the connection between us, strengthening it, breathing life into it.

We break apart, breathless, and grin at each other for several seconds before I pull back. “This isn’t like the last promise you made to me here?”

Nick’s jaw drops. “I’m trying to be sweet and this is what I get?”

“I mean, a girl has to protect herself, you know? Broken hearts are no joke.”

Nick laughs and unpacks the basket, pulling out a soft blanket for us to sit on, a bottle of wine, and several plasticcontainers of food. There’s Brie, Gouda, and artisan crackers to start, followed by chilled chicken skewers and a mixed green salad. For dessert, he offers chocolate covered strawberries. We drape our legs off the end of the pier and eat, watching the setting sun.

When we’re done, we drive back to his place. As soon as we’re inside, Nick kisses my hand, nuzzling his cheek against my palm, then kissing down my forearm, drawing me close before pressing his lips to mine. When we finally pull away, he tugs me toward the bedroom, his hand wrapped around mine.

Hands threading through hair. Bodies pressing close. Breath mingling, chests heaving. There’s the rustle of fabric as he draws my shirt over my head, my hair dropping over my shoulders before he brushes it away to kiss the bare skin. He’s needy and insistent. I’m greedy and unrelenting. I need his touch. His skin on mine. The confirmation of whatever this is becoming real and true, something to be trusted rather than feared.

I need the way he looks at me, like I’m the most precious thing he’s ever seen.

I need the way he touches me, like I’m a balm to his tortured soul.

I need the way he kisses me, like a starving man taking his first bite.

I need the way we move together, like a promise finally being fulfilled. I need dreams of the future to burn away fears of the past, to prove that magic is possible in this broken world where good things can end at any moment, for any reason.

We come together, two souls desperate to be made whole. Crashing into each other in a deafening roar of ecstatic union. He is my beginning and my end. My salvation and my undoing.

He is my everything.

His touch is delicate, his kisses a slow unraveling of every doubt, every fear. My heart pounds beneath his hands, not withanxiety but with certainty. He pulls me closer, his lips finding mine, and it’s not just desire—it’s understanding. It’s the way he sees me, truly sees me, and loves me anyway.

In this moment, nothing else exists. Not the past, not the future, only a connection so raw and real it feels like coming home. His body presses against mine, his warmth seeping into every corner of me, and I cling to him, desperate to hold on to this feeling.

FORTY

Nick

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