Page 99 of Stuck with my Guarded MVP
Oh. That. I’d never given it a name. To me, it was just… the past.
I took the frame from her gently. “No.” I looked toward the living room. “I was thinking right there. On the main wall. I want everyone to see it.”
I watched her process that. To me, that hallway was my past. The living room was our present. Our future.
She didn’t say anything. She just nodded, a slow, sure smile spreading across her face.
We found a nail and a hammer. She held the picture level against the wall, her hands steady. “Here?”
“A little to the left,” I said.
I drove the nail in with two solid taps. I took the frame from her and hung it, centering it perfectly. Then we both stepped back.
I slid my arm around her waist and pulled her close. She rested her head on my shoulder.
I looked at the picture, then down at the woman in my arms. I pressed a kiss to her hair.
She was it.
Under Orion
Liam
Iwheeled my suitcase out into the hallway. It was packed, zipped, and ready to go.
Claire’s door was open. I leaned against the frame. Her suitcase was splayed open on the bed, color-coded packing cubes peeking out in neat rows. The most organized woman I knew was letting me hijack her birthday weekend.
“It would be a lot easier to pack,” she said, her back still to me, “if you told me where we were going.”
I smirked. “You know, for someone as smart as you, I find it hard to believe you don’t know the meaning of the wordsurprise.”
She finally looked over her shoulder and swatted at me with the sweater in her hand. I caught it easily, laughing.
“Did you pack the stuff I told you to?” I asked, folding the sweater and placing it in her suitcase. “Layers. Hiking boots. That beanie you love.”
“Yes, of course,” she said, gesturing to the pile. “But you’re a guy. Do you really know what a woman needs to pack for a mysterious multi-day trip?”
I reached over and smoothly zipped her suitcase closed before she could protest. “I know exactly what you need,” I said. I pulled her in for a quick, firm kiss, then lifted the suitcase off the bed.
My phone buzzed. “And our ride is here. Let’s go.”
“Welcome to Midland, Texas,” the pilot said, voice crackling through the overhead speaker. “Local time is 12:32. Clear skies and ninety-four degrees.”
Claire exhaled sharply beside me. “Midland?” she said, dragging out the syllables. “You flew me to oil country for my birthday?”
I grinned and stretched, pretending not to hear the edge in her voice. “Technically, the pilot flew us. I just booked the tickets.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You’ve given me zero itinerary, no packing instructions, and now we’re in Midland. I’m filing this under ‘suspicious behavior.’”
I leaned closer and brushed a quick kiss against her lips. “You trust me though, right?”
She gave me a look. “I trust you. I just don’t trust your definition of ‘romantic getaway’. You’re either taking me somewhere magical or somewhere that requires bug spray. I’m bracing for both.”
A quiet laugh escaped me.
I love rattling her.
Her brain was always five steps ahead, and watching it spin trying to figure me out was the best show on earth.
