Page 96 of Unless It's You
We press our foreheads together, breathing heavily.
“Was that fast enough?”
“Christ, Stella, have I told you how much I love you?”
“You have, rugby dude.”
A voice rings out from beyond the door in the Billeting Room.
“Someone dropped their jacket.” A man’s voice sounds.
“Shit.” I lean back with my eyes wide, Ethan still inside me.
“Let’s grab it for the lost and found,” a woman says. “I bet it belongs to that couple we sold tickets to. They’re the only ones here.”
Ethan holds a finger to my lips, but he’s silently laughing, shoulders rocking.
I dismount from my boyfriend and silently apologize to the person who works in this room.
“Get dressed!” I whisper-scream at Ethan.
“Unless you want to go again?” He winks at me.
I tilt my head and consider it, then point to his pile of clothing.
The voices are gone, so we sneak back out of the little room and pull the door shut.
“That was close.” I let Ethan grab my hand and entwine our fingers. “And fun.”
“We could add that activity to our castle, mountain peak, and wedding venue itinerary?”
“Again—wildly inappropriate, but sure.” I follow him out of the room.
After we retrievemy jacket from the ticket office, me desperately hoping I don’t look too flushed and disheveled, I send Reese a text offering to scope out wedding venues, plus a link to the wedding page for Eilean Donan Castle. I throw in a selfie of Ethan and I standing in front of the castle with the loch in the background. She responds back right away.
Reese
Yes, please! And who on earth is that gorgeous, bearded man? Tell me everything!
Me
My boyfriend
Reese
Your WHAT
Me
Tell you more later
“She’s psyched about it!” I turn to Ethan, beaming.
Her reaction was exactly what I hoped for. I let out a big, satisfied sigh and shut my eyes for a second, imagining how perfect Reese and Oliver’s wedding would be here. Anywhere.
And I can’t wait to tell her and Maddie the Ethan story on our video call, or at least an abridged version of it.
“But I haven’t quite finished with the bucket list. Number two.”
