Chapter 35
Juliette
Long fingers were threading through my hair, the movements soft and slow and tender. It had me moaning softly, the sensation good enough to make me drift back to sleep.
It had been a long day. A long week. Long couple months. No, a long five years without Bridger, and I was so eager to make up for every last stolen second.
It had been nice seeing his parents again, and knowing that they were only an hour away from us made me feel a sense of warmth and familiarity that I had been missing in my life. We’d have the chance to grow and heal and make up and be together.
“You awake, honey?” I heard Bridger murmur. “I know there’s been a lot of driving today, but the sunset looks really beautiful here if you wanna check it out…”
My eyes flew open.
The first thing I saw was Bridger looking back at me.
He had a little smile on his face, his fingers still playing with my hair and my heart racing at the fact that I was with him and away from all of them, with a stash of cash in the trunk that he had stolen from my parents.
A sweet little gift that was ever so slightly twisted. Oh well.
The next thing I noticed was the scent in the air.
It hit me in the best way instantly. Crisp, fresh, a little sweet.
I had never smelled anything like it before.
I could have sworn if I listened closely enough that I heard the gentle rush of something.
My head turned so I was looking ahead of me and my hand quickly reached out to grab Bridger’s, because he was the only thing keeping me steady.
The most beautiful house I had ever seen sat before me.
Pretty, pastel blue paneling covered the outside of the one-story building that sat between tall, shielding wild oaks.
A house on stilts, just like the one I always saw in my head.
Small, cozy, hidden away amongst the trees, a stark contrast to the overly extravagant mansions I was used to.
The ones that housed nothing but coldness and cruelty.
“This is ours?” I whispered.
“Yeah, this is ours. All ours. If you want it…”
Facing Bridger again, I smiled. “I want it so bad it hurts.”
He leaned forward, kissing my lips gently. “Come see the inside.”
We both got out of the car and it was only then that I got to take a look behind me.
There it was. The crystal clear, blue ocean.
The waves were moving softly under the late afternoon sun, but it was the sky that took the cake as one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen in my life.
A deep purple at the top, a just as deep blue in the middle, and then a wondrous orange that was slowly sinking into the never-ending sparkling blue.
My first time seeing the sun set into the ocean.
My first time seeing the ocean. It really did look like it went on forever.
“This… This doesn’t feel real.” I laughed, eyes stuck on that water. I turned back around to face the house. Mine and Bridger’s house. No, our home. A real home. I was finally getting one. “This seriously doesn’t feel real, Bridger.”
“It’s real, baby,” he said, reaching a hand up, his fingers brushing some strands of hair out of my face. “You’re gonna be waking up to this every morning.”
“Every morning…” I repeated. It still wasn’t sinking in.
Like this was a too good, too beautiful dream that I’d wake up from, but Bridger’s fingers tangling with mine very much felt real.
He was standing on the second step of the house, a gentle look in his ocean blue eyes.
In front of me, behind me, all around me, forever.
I was surrounded by everything I had ever wanted.
“Come inside,” he said softly.
I let him guide me up the stairs, watching as he pulled the key out of his pocket and opened the front door. A creaking hit my ears as it slowly opened, and then it was like seeing that sunset all over again.
The room was empty but it already felt like home.
Warm yellow walls surrounded me, contrasting against the hardwood floors.
There wasn’t a thing in the room, but I could feel it, sense it, touch it: complete and total safety.
This wasn’t my prison. This wasn’t the house I’d be beaten and strangled in.
This wasn’t the house I was ignored and intimidated in.
This was the house that would be my home, my forever, with the man I loved and the baby we were going to cherish, with the ocean right behind us.
“I haven’t had the chance to go furniture shopping yet. Been kinda busy…” Bridger chuckled, his hand still glued to mine as we walked deeper into the room. “Thought we could do that together. Our first, you know, normal couple activity since getting back together.”
“We really haven’t had a single normal couple moment, have we?” I giggled. That sound turned into a sigh as Bridger pulled me to him gently.
“I guess not,” he murmured, lips ghosting against mine. “There’s a lot of time for that, though. Until then… Let me show you the rest of the house.”
Fingers still all tangled, Bridger showed me the kitchen and two of the bedrooms and the backyard, rattling off all of his future plans for us.
This bedroom will be for the baby, and this one will be ours, and we can put the couch here in the living room.
I didn’t have it in me to interrupt him. He sounded so excited.
“There’s no beds yet obviously,” he said. “But I figured we could go shopping for that together, maybe tomorrow or the next day if you’re feeling up to it. We’ll stay in a hotel until we get everything delivered.”
But it was when we got to the end of the bright yellow hallway that Bridger turned around and eyed me closely.
“This room will be yours,” he said, his hand on the knob.
“You want separate bedrooms?” I laughed, soft and light. It had been a long time since I got to laugh like that. It had been a long time since I had laughed at all.
“No.” His head shook, his voice all low and serious. “You’re never sleeping alone. I’m planning on falling asleep with you in my arms every single night. But… there’s still a space I want you to have all to yourself…”
He pushed the door open, revealing an empty room. He held my hand as he guided me inside, my steps slow as I took it all in. All I could think about was how much sunlight poured in through the old wooden windows at the back of the room. It was making everything in the room glow.
“This is where you can paint,” Bridger said.
“I know it’s not huge, but you’ll be able to set up a lot of stuff in here.
A couple of desks and a few easels and some drawers or whatever for your stuff.
I can build some shelves for you too. Just let me know how many you want and where you want ‘em. We can go down to the craft store tomorrow and check out what they have and if you want we can—”
I was throwing my arms around him before I knew it, my lips pressed right to his as I let out a deep sigh.
Bridger Underwood was it for me and he always would be.
No one but him. Nothing but us. I sighed deeply as he kissed me back, his tongue pushing into my mouth as I felt his arms circle right around my waist.
“I love you,” he murmured against my lips. “I’ll do anything to make you happy, Juliette. It’s different now. No one is getting in the way. Not again. Not this time, baby.”
I held in a cry and just kissed at him again, our bodies pressed tightly together, his hands running across my waist and hips like he wanted to feel every inch of me.
“Let me show you the beach,” he said against my lips, one hand raising to gently grasp my chin. “I haven’t even seen it yet. Not up close. Come on.”
Beach. That was a foreign word. That was a far off, distant planet I was about to visit for the first time. Bridger pulled me back outside and through the line of oak trees. I looked up at them, at how they crept up so high, at how they provided a shelter for our home.
We walked across the pine straw and on to the cement pathway that led down to the beach. There were a few stairs on the way down and when we made it to the last one, I felt myself pause. Bridger was already kicking his shoes off, sending them flying into the distance.
“Ah, shit, didn’t mean to throw ‘em that far,” he said. “Oh well. You ready, baby?”
I was at the last step, my own shoes still on. The butterflies in my stomach were halting me, keeping me from making that final move.
Bridger turned around slowly, eyes all dark and serious. I had a feeling he could sense it. This was a simple moment for most people, but for me? To touch sand, to feel the ocean? This wasn’t just a nice view. This was freedom.
“I’ve got you,” Bridger said, voice low, calm, warm. “I’ve always got you, sweet girl.”
He held both his hands out and I slowly took them. I didn’t realize how much my own were shaking until he grabbed them, squeezed them, and kept them steady. Bridger always kept me steady.
“One step at a time,” he said. “Come. Come with me.”
Nodding, I twisted one foot, letting my sandal slide off and hit the ground before doing the same with the other.
Bridger kept his fingers threaded with mine the whole time.
I moved my right foot first, my movements a little shaky and unbalanced, letting my toes graze along the sand with a little gasp.
Softness was what I first noticed. Then finally, all slow and cautious, I let my whole foot rest against the sand. The beach. I was standing on a beach.
“Oh my God,” I said with a too shaky laugh. The tears were in my eyes before I could stop them. “Bridger.”
“Yeah, I know,” he said, his smile warm and bright. “Other foot for me, sweetheart. You can do it.”