Page 24 of After Hours

We’d explored most of the trails at Rocky Cove, so when Zane invited me for a drive out to one of his favorite places, I’d agreed right away. To be honest, I’d probably agree to going anywhere with him. Some of our ‘dates’ still consisted of grabbing groceries at the supermarket. It was all so wonderfully domestic and filled my mind with dreams of a future together. Maybe someday we’d buy groceries for our own place and go back home to unload them into our fridge and cabinets together before cooking dinner and then later falling into our own bed and…

“It’s right up this way,” he said, interrupting my daydreams, and pointed to a narrower, packed dirt trail heading upward.“Come on, Sugar!” She turned, bounced once, and trotted back with her floppy little ears perked up as much as they could go.

The trail wasn’t wide enough to walk side-by-side, so I let go of his hand and followed close behind. “Where are you taking me?”

Zan shot a grin over his shoulder. “To one of my favorite spots. Don’t worry, you won’t have to climb over anything but a few fallen trees and some little rocks.”

We walked in silence for a while, but my mind tipped somewhere a bit less rosy than the future dreams from before. Did he mind that I didn’t want to go climbing with him? Should boyfriends want to do all the same things together? That didn’t sound right to me, but I really didn’t know much about being in a real relationships. High school situations in my friend group were totally different than the adult thing. My siblings and their spouses did tons of stuff together, but even they had their own hobbies and friend groups.

I must’ve made some kind of frustrated noise because Zane stopped and looked back at me with a gathered brow. “Is something wrong, baby? I promise not to make you climb.”

“Do you want me to? I mean, are you upset that I don’t want to do that with you?”

He looked at me for a minute, lips pressed together but with a soft gleam in his eyes. Finally, he smiled and stepped closer to gently wrap his hands around my biceps. “Oscar, I don’t expect you to do things you’re not interested in just for me. I like climbing. You don’t have to. I’m sure there are plenty of things you want to do that aren’t my favorite things, too. Some of them we’ll share. Others we won’t. It’s not a big deal.”

“But people in relationships have expectations.”

Zane sighed and gave me a quick squeeze. “The place we’re heading to is about three minutes up the trail. We can get there, sit down, and talk, okay?”

I just nodded, and we resumed our trek over rough ground, rocks, and protruding roots. After a few minutes, the trees opened up in front of us, and we stepped out onto a high ridge. A kind of stone shelf ran across the base of a scraggly cliff, making a perfect bench seat, and I followed Zane over to sit next to him. In front of us, the valley stretched out, partially obscured by the tops of trees. In the distance, the lake shone like a blue-gray mirror, and I could just make out the misty shapes of the hills on the far side.

“This is beautiful,” I said as I leaned against Zane’s side. Sugar sniffed around a bit before lying down at our feet, her pink tongue lolling out.

Zane pulled her collapsible water bowl from his pack and filled it before handing me a fresh bottle and taking a drink out of the open one. “I brought protein bars and apples, too, if you’re hungry.”

“I’m okay.” I gazed out at the view for another few seconds before I couldn’t take it anymore. “I don’t think I’m ever going to climb cliffs. I mean…” I glanced up at the rock wall behind us. “Even that kinda scares me.”

“That? That’s nothing.” The moment he said those words, he turned back to me. “Does sitting here make you nervous? We can move. I thought this would be a pretty place to—”

“Zane. I’m fine. It is pretty! And I’m glad you showed me one of your favorite places. I just don’t want to let you down.”

He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me against his side. Our heads tipped together. “Oscar, I don’t know your whole past, of course, but I know you came from a place with a lot of expectations on you. Family expectations, right?” When I nodded, he went on. “That’s not what good relationships are about. I don’t expect you to stay glued to my side, and I don’t think you want that either. We’re individuals.”

His words made a lot of sense. Even in the midst of the honeymoon period, this new and exciting start to a relationship when we wanted to spend more time together, I didn’t suffer unending emotional pain when we were apart. The idea almost made me laugh. No one wanted to be, or be with, a stage five clinger. I leaned my head against his shoulder. “I know. I get it, I do. Everything’s surprisingly great here, and I think it’s freaking me out a bit.”

He kissed the top of my head. “It’s new, but it’s good. As long as we keep talking and listening to each other, I think it’ll only get better. So, we don’t have to spend every waking minute together, and we don’t have to share every single hobby. But we should be able to count on each other. Like, if you get sick, I’ll bring you soup and cuddle you up in one of your cozy cardigans.”

My heart warmed up enough to counter the autumn chill in the air. “If you fall off a cliff, I’ll visit you in the hospital.”

He shot a stern glance at me and squeezed me tighter. “That’s not going to happen. The point is, I know I can count on you. We’ll find tons of stuff we both enjoy together and give each other time and space to do other things on our own sometimes. That’s all I expect. I know how I feel about you, and I’m pretty sure of how you feel about me, too. And if anything changes, I expect you to let me know so we can work it out, okay?”

I nodded and turned to kiss the corner of his mouth. Before we could get too distracted with each other, I sat back. “I didn’t expect you at all when I drove across the country. You make the whole thing a lot less scary, but it’s not just that. You’re not like a safety line or an anchor point. You’re a…” Heat filled me cheeks. “You have to help with the terminology. Who’s the person who stays on the ground and holds the end of the rope just in case?”

“The belayer.” Zane grabbed me in a tight hug. “Shit, I can’t believe you’re making climbing terms sound so romantic. You’re my belayer, too, baby. We can count on each other.”

Sugar kindly looked away while we got lost kissing each other for a while. The temperatures prevented any serious making out, and we eventually leaned back with mutual sighs. The western sun turned the few remaining gold and orange leaves into licks of fire at the tops of the trees. Before I could suggest more rugged hikes like this in the future, Zane spoke up.

“You know, I like your whole belayer metaphor. It kinda makes me think of Wyatt, which is odd to admit since you and I have a whole different kind of relationship than what I have with my brother. And now you told me about your sibling, Dec, and how they’re going to need support to leave your family when the time comes. It’s never a bad thing to keep your feet on the ground and watch out for others, to provide them a safe place to land.” He sighed and pressed his warm lips against my temple. “You’re a very good person, Oscar O’Donnell, and I’m so glad to be yours.”

I could only hope my kisses could show him how much I felt the exact same way. The sun sank, the temperature dropped, and Sugar got restless again. Before Zane led us back down the hill, I quickly scanned the ground nearby.

There. A lovely gray speckled stone slipped into my pocket when Zane wasn’t looking. I wanted to make something that would always symbolize this perfect day together, the day I knew I had fallen in love for the first time.

“Come on, baby,” Zane called over his shoulder. “I’m in the mood for pizza. Hopefully, we don’t have to share with Wyatt tonight. I have some plans that require privacy afterward.” His voice rang out through the woods.

I shushed him, giggling, and hurried to catch up. As the path widened out again, our hands came together as if it were our natural state of being. Maybe it was now. It felt right to me.

Chapter 14

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