Chapter 23
#WHYNOTBOTH
ADRIAN
I was sitting on the couch in my rental cabin, staring at my phone like it might spontaneously combust, when a knock at the door made me jump.
I’d been avoiding Vic’s increasingly frantic calls for two days now, and the weight of the Solenne Collection decision was sitting on my chest like a boulder.
Through the window, I saw a man in a SERA jacket standing on the porch, snow dusting his shoulders.
I recognized him—Dr. Tommy Marian, Foster’s boyfriend.
The one who’d been laughing as he pelted Maya with perfectly aimed snowballs, while somehow managing to look like he’d stepped out of a medical drama.
“Adrian?” he called through the door. “It’s Tommy Marian. We met the other day.”
I opened the door, immediately hit by a blast of cold air and Tommy’s easy smile. Up close, he was even more striking—the kind of wholesome, all-American handsome that probably made patients feel better just by walking into the room.
“Hey,” I said, stepping back to let him in. “Is there another epic snow battle on the horizon? Am I being drafted?”
He laughed. “Not today, but you’re on my list for next time.
” He stepped inside, shaking snow from his jacket, and held up a thermos.
“I’m here to deliver you some cocoa my mom said you liked and to issue an invitation.
We’re having Christmas at the lodge—the whole extended Marian clan, plus anyone we’ve adopted along the way.
Once my mother heard about you possibly being alone on Christmas, that was it.
She said you’re part of the family, whether you like it or not.
I’m afraid now it’s a command performance. ”
The words hit me harder than they should have. Part of the family. I’d heard similar phrases my whole life, but they’d always felt hollow, obligatory. This felt different. Real.
“That’s really nice of her,” I managed. “I’d love to come, assuming I’m still in town.”
Tommy tilted his head, something shifting in his expression. “Assuming?”
I shrugged, trying for casual. “You know how it is with work. Things come up.”
“Everything okay?” The question was gentle, with that particular tone medical professionals seemed to master—genuinely concerned but not pushy.
I found myself hesitating. I hadn’t talked to anyone about the Solenne offer except Vic. But there was something about Tommy’s presence that made me want to unload the weight I’d been carrying.
“You want to stick around for a coffee or maybe some of that cocoa?” I asked. “I could use some advice.”
He didn’t answer but handed me the thermos and immediately moved to the hooks by the door to remove his coat. When he returned to the kitchen, he took two mugs from the coffee station and poured us each a cup.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“It’s kind of a work situation,” I admitted, curling my hands around my mug. The cocoa was still hot, and the warmth was comforting. “Got offered this huge opportunity, but the timing is… complicated.”
Tommy settled his ass against the counter and crossed his arms, giving me his full attention. “I happen to have recent relevant experience about this. Tell me more.”
“It’s a global brand ambassador position,” I found myself saying. “Everything I’ve worked toward for the past five years. Financial security, international recognition, the works. My business manager’s been calling nonstop because they need an answer by Friday.”
“Sounds like a dream opportunity,” Tommy said carefully. “What’s making it complicated?”
I ran a hand through my hair, surprised by how much I wanted to tell him. “It would mean leaving Legacy. Like, immediately. Flying to Paris next week for the launch campaign, then living out of hotels for the next year while I travel the world creating content for the brand.”
“Mmhm.” His face softened in understanding. “And there’s something here you’d be leaving behind.”
“Someone,” I corrected quietly, even though I could tell by the look on his face he knew.
“Maddox and I… I don’t know what we are exactly, but it’s the most real thing I’ve felt in years.
And Maya, and this whole town that’s somehow started to feel like home.
” I laughed, but it came out shaky. “I know that sounds crazy. I’ve been here for what, less than three weeks? ”
“It doesn’t sound crazy at all,” Tommy said gently. “Sometimes you just know when something fits.”
“But this opportunity…” I gestured at my phone. “It’s everything I thought I wanted. My manager keeps saying this is what we worked so hard for, and he’s not wrong.”
Tommy was quiet for a moment, and I could see him weighing his words. “Is this what you worked so hard for, or what your manager worked so hard for?” His voice was careful, nonjudgmental. “Because sometimes those things aren’t the same.”
The question hit me like a punch to the gut. I opened my mouth to say of course it was what I wanted, but the words wouldn’t come.
“I had a similar choice just a few months ago,” Tommy continued when I didn’t answer.
“Stay in New York, following a career track that looked perfect on paper, or try something different, something unexpected. I struggled with the idea that I was giving up everything I’d worked so hard for, so I know exactly how you feel. ”
“What did you do?”
“I came here on my way to my ‘something different’ and found something even more different… but so fucking perfect.” His smile was soft, certain. “Best decision I ever made, even though it scared the hell out of me at the time.”
I stared at him, something loosening in my chest. “Do you ever regret it?”
“Never. But I realized something important—I’d been making ‘smart’ decisions that were making me miserable. Following a preconceived script for what my life should look like instead of asking what would actually make me happy and allowing that idea of what a happy life looked like to change.”
We sat in comfortable silence for a moment, sipping our drinks as snow continued to fall outside the window.
I thought about waking up in Maddox’s bed, about Maya’s laughter, about feeling like I belonged somewhere for the first time in my adult life.
Tommy let out a soft laugh. “Isn’t it wild how many of us work hard to fulfill the dreams of an ignorant teenager?”
I glanced at him over the edge of my mug. “How do you mean?”
“I was fourteen when I decided to become a doctor. I researched the hell out of it and came up with a dream and a path to achieve that dream. Then I ticked off all the boxes on the path until I had it all in the palm of my hand.” He shrugged.
“What I had was a fourteen-year-old’s idea of a happy life instead of an actual happy life, you know? ”
“Yeah,” I said softly.
I thought back to the day I’d left home.
How I’d been bound and determined to prove I could succeed on my own.
My idea of happiness had been making lots of money and doing it my own way.
Not by joining the family business and being the cookie-cutter Perfect Son my parents wanted, but by impressing people with my own…
something. My own special sauce. My own talent. My own achievement.
And now, here I was. Successful because I was a pretty man who was good at standing next to pretty things in pretty clothes.
The sound of my snort was unexpected, causing Tommy’s head to snap up. “What?”
I started to laugh. “I just realized I was so fucking determined to succeed without my parents, I ended up building a career based on the same fake persona bullshit that they raised me with. Talk about irony.”
His forehead crinkled with confusion. “Fake? You don’t come off as fake on social media. Are you just that good at it?”
I shrugged because I couldn’t stop laughing. It was either that or cry.
Tommy frowned again and came around the island, reaching for my elbow to pull me over to the sofa. We dropped down into the soft cushions before he turned to face me. “Was the story about the one-footed duck made up?”
My laughter stopped with an aborted kind of hiccup. “The one in Melbourne? No, that duck only had one foot. He was born that way. Cute little fucker. You saw that?”
He nodded. “And when you posted the link to the donation site for the duck rescue place, was that made up?”
“’Course not. Jesus. I learned about the group from a woman on the plane next to me. She and a bunch of volunteers go out—”
“Not the point,” Tommy said with a patient smile. “The point is, you met someone with a cause that pinged something in you, and you used your platform to make a real, authentic impact. To do some good.”
I blinked at him.
“So tell me about the most fake post you ever made,” he said, settling back into the cushions.
I thought back to all of the many posts I’d made and the various sponsorship clients I’d had.
“The rave review of Destina Suites on the Jersey Shore,” I muttered.
“Although I was careful not to actually say I liked it. I pointed out the things that were good about it and tried to make it sound better than it was without actually misleading people.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “So you were honest? Real?”
I rolled my eyes. “And then there was the time when I posted about loving Crete while secretly battling a disgusting bout of food poisoning. I hate Crete. Will definitely never go back there despite the hidden nude beaches. And the cats. I liked the cats.”
He smiled. “Did you post about the cats? I might need to look those posts up.”
“Of course. I posted more about the stray cats than I did about the travel insurance company I was there to promote, although they didn’t know that.
I kind of used the cats as the content to explain that without the insurance, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the cats as much.
Not true. I still would have enjoyed them plenty. ”
His laughter was warm and easy. “Bet that insurance company didn’t cover a nice banana bag at a local med spa. Would have fixed you right up. Hydration. Electrolyte replacement.”
“How’d you know Foster was the one?” I blurted.
Tommy blinked at the change in topic, but his answer was immediate.
“Because as soon as I met him, I knew I wanted to orbit around him like the neediest little planet lucky enough to bask in the warmth of his sun. Somehow, I knew the minute I stepped out of that light… I’d live in a kind of darkness for the rest of my life. ”
Yes. That. That was exactly how I felt with Maddox.
“It doesn’t make sense,” I murmured.
Tommy’s smile was kind and understanding. “Nope. Is it supposed to? I’m not sure. Does it matter? Does it change anything about who you want to be with?”
“No. But I just met this guy. And he lives…” I gestured out at the frozen tundra beyond the window. Before I could make a snarky statement, I noticed movement in the distance. I stood up and walked closer to the window. “Is that a moose?”
Tommy joined me at the window. “Nah. Those are elk. See the other ones just off to the right? They’re probably coming down from the mountain, looking for easier pickings. They do that in winter. We’ve seen a bunch at SERA recently.”
I watched as the small herd moved across the empty landscape between my cabin and the forested base of the mountain. “Holy fuck,” I breathed.
He chuckled as he moved back to the sofa and reached for his coffee again. “Legacy never fails to impress, no matter what time of year it is.”
I couldn’t keep my eyes off the elk. “You must be used to the weather.”
“Only because I lived in New York for a while. But I grew up in California. The Bay Area. I’ll take Legacy’s sunshine and snow over San Francisco’s fog or New York’s gray winters any day.”
“I bet the summers are beautiful,” I said wistfully.
Tommy hesitated. “Adrian, I’ve seen the way you look at Maddox, and I’ve seen how this town has embraced you. Maya talks about you like you’re already family. That’s not something you find everywhere.”
I finally peeled my eyes away from the view. “I know that. I do. But I have to work. I can’t just—”
“Work doesn’t have to end just because you change zip codes,” Tommy interrupted gently. “You’ve got a platform, skills, connections. Those don’t disappear if you’re not physically in LA.”
I blinked at him. “You… you don’t think it would be stupid to be based so far away from a big city or a hub airport? My job requires traveling, like all the time.”
“I think you could make anything work if you wanted it badly enough.” Tommy stood, moving to the kitchen to place his mug in the sink. “But more importantly, you deserve to be happy. Really, genuinely happy. Not just successful or impressive or whatever other people think you should be.”
He paused in the process of reaching for his coat. “You know what my mom said when she asked me to invite you to Christmas?”
I shook my head.
“She said, ‘Adrian belongs here now. Make sure he knows it.’” Tommy’s smile was certain and warm. “So I’m telling you—you belong here, Adrian. Not because of your job or because of Maddox, but because you’ve chosen to see this place and these people as home. And we want you here.”
After he left, I sat in the silence of the cabin, his words echoing in my head. If I deserved to be happy, what did that look like? When was I happiest?
The answer was easy. Every morning I woke up in Maddox’s arms. Every time I shared a joke with Maya. Every moment I felt like I was part of something bigger than my carefully curated—but definitely isolated—online presence.
Coming to Montana had felt like a detour from my “normal” life.
But what if it wasn’t a detour? What if it was the destination I was meant to find all along?
I picked up my phone and, for the first time in days, didn’t feel the familiar dread. Instead, I felt something that might have been hope.
Maybe Tommy was right. Maybe the biggest risk wasn’t taking a chance on love. It was playing it safe and missing out on everything that could make me truly happy.
I scrolled to Vic’s contact and took a deep breath. It was time to stop following someone else’s script and start writing my own story.
#FollowYourHeart #DoctorsOrders #WriteYourOwnScript #ElkMoose