Page 82 of Winning the Nightcap

Bec:Get your head in the game.

Aiden:Pack the big panties and grungy shirts. Pack whatever you want, Bec. It doesn’t matter what you wear since I’ll be tearing everything off your body so I can lick every inch of you.

Aiden:You there?

Bec:Excuse me. My brainis still buffering.

* * *

Bec and I took separate red-eye flights. I left straight from my away game. I couldn’t keep the destination secret forever, but I did wait to tell her where we were going until it was time for her to pick up her plane ticket at the airport.

From the look on her face now, her smile beaming from the passenger seat in our rental car, I can tell she’s not disappointed.

“I’ve never been to Colorado. I’m so excited,” she says while her eyes flicker over every highway marker we pass. “Where are we headed?”

“We’re close now,” I answer vaguely.

“So, what brought on this impromptu kidnapping anyway?”

“I’d hardly call sending you a plane ticket kidnapping.”

“Semantics. You didn’t tell me where I was going until I was already on my way here,” Bec says.

“You could have turned around,” I argue playfully.

“And leave you all by your lonesome? What would the tabloids have to say about you vacationing alone?”

“We won’t need to worry about that here.”Thankfully.

I’ve never drawn much attention from the media. I don’t give them much to work with. My lacking social life keeps me boring enough to avoid the spotlight, and I like to keep it that way. Though, more has come up since the guys and I promoted the adoption event on social media back in February. Given that it’s June, I’m surprised the buzz has lasted this long.

“How mysterious…I’m glad you finally asked Ellie to pack for me. I assume you told her what we’re doing while we’re here?”

“She knew the basics when she packed your bag. Which by the way, you’ll need to change when we get to our first stop.”

“Uh…okay? You might be the only guy I would agree to a date withat seven in the morning.”

“I wanted to beat the crowd,” I say, pulling into the parking lot. “Welcome to Rocky Mountain National Park.”

Chapter Forty-Nine

Bec

The hike to Mills Lake is stunning. At every turn, the rugged landscape takes my breath away. And not a single inch of the trek compares to the view of the lake itself.

Aiden and I take our time on the trails, catching up and laughing. Conversations with Aiden have always flowed easily, and today is no different. Every now and then, I look up from where I’m checking my footing to catch Aiden smiling at me. A look of contentment drawing up the sides of his mouth.

Something about being here with him, the fresh air invigorates the pulse in my veins, breathing life into my lungs. The mountains standing tall in the distance make me feel small, and with that feeling comes an indescribable comfort to my soul. In this quiet, boundless space, all my indecision and anxiety couldn’t possibly matter. What significance can any of my stressors hold in a world so wonderfully wild? What problem could matter more than living in the here and now, appreciating the small and large wonders around me?

When we finally stand lakeside, Aiden wraps his arms around my waist, whispering into my ear from behind me, “Was this what you had in mind?”

“What do you mean?” I absentmindedly ask, still enthralled in the view before me: crystal clear waters below snowcapped mountains. I look over the lake, through the trees, unable to fully appreciate the beauty given the overabundance in front of me.

“Your dream vacation…” Aiden says, his voice wavering with a hint of uncertainty.

The memory resurfaces. “Oh my god, Aiden…”

He squeezes me tightly against him, nuzzling into my neck. “You said you wanted an escape. To experience the world more simply, stripped down to the raw elements. Did you find the peace you said it’d bring you? Is it as freeing as you imagined?”

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