Chapter Twenty-Two
Twenty-Two
Pam
I am worthy of good things.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, sweetheart.”
My eyes fluttered open at the sound of that familiar gruff voice.
I blinked a few times, my vision clearing to see Alistair standing beside the bed with a tray in his hands.
“What’s all this?” I asked, reaching for my glasses on the nightstand.
“Breakfast in bed. I wanted to surprise you.”
I propped myself up on the pillows, and Al passed me the tray. He’d cooked me a full spread: fluffy scrambled eggs, waffles, and bacon. A vase of bright wildflowers sat in the corner with a card propped up against them.
Regardless of whatever else Alistair had planned for today, this already beat past Valentine’s Days.
I felt like the luckiest woman in the world.
Looking up at him, I could feel my lip quivering. As usual, he was so ridiculously thoughtful. “Thank you,” I said, my voice wavering.
“Why don’t you open the card?” He raised his brows, that lopsided grin curving up one corner of his mouth.
I grabbed the bright pink envelope and flipped it open.
On the front of the card, there was a cell phone that read, “We took a chance on what could be,” with “Thank you for swiping right on me” on the inside, followed by a handwritten note:
Happy Valentine’s Day
I appreciate you coming all this way to see me. It means more to me than you could ever know.
XOXO
Al
A folded piece of paper was tucked inside, a printout of a one-year membership at the hot yoga studio in Rock Harbor. That was an affluent area, so I was positive the membership wasn’t cheap.
I clutched the card to my chest. “Thank you so much.”
“Anything for you.” He leaned over, stroking his thumb over my cheek and placing a soft kiss on top of my head.
“I have something for you, too.”
Sweater curse be damned, I couldn’t wait to give him what I’d been working on.
“You go ahead and eat first. I don’t want your breakfast getting cold.”
“Aren’t you going to eat?” I asked, already digging into my eggs.
He sat down at the foot of the bed and shook his head. “I, uh, I tend to pick at the food while I’m cooking.”
I snorted, because I did the same thing when I cooked for other people, and took a sip of my coffee.
Shit.
He’d even made it how I liked it.
“So, what do you have planned today, lover boy? Taking me to a ski chalet? A plane ride to Paris? A yacht trip around the world?” I was only half joking. With Alistair, none of those would be all that surprising.
“Nothing that grand for today, I’m afraid. Did you bring your cold-weather gear?”
I nibbled on a slice of bacon and nodded.
“Good. You’re going to need it today.”
Well, my curiosity was piqued.
Cross-country skiing? Snowshoe hiking?
He stood up with a groan and sauntered over to the closet. “You finish up. I’m gonna get dressed.”
By the time he returned, I’d eaten as much as I could and sucked down every last drop of my coffee.
“All done with this?” he asked.
“I’m stuffed. It was delicious.”
He was dressed in a white V-neck T-shirt with black snow pants covering his lower half, and when he turned around, I noticed I couldn’t see his tail.
“Where’s your tail?”
He twisted to look at his butt before grinning at me. “I tucked it into my pants. It gets cold out on the trails.”
Fuck, he was adorable.
And it made total sense. His tail wasn’t fluffy like Atlas’s.
He started for the door, and I stopped him before he could turn the corner.
“Wait, your gift.”
I threw off the covers and removed a bundle covered in maroon wrapping paper from my suitcase. Somehow it made it through the airport unscathed.
Alistair set the tray on the nightstand and took the package from me. He carefully peeled back the paper and grinned widely when he saw what was inside.
“Pam. No way.” He held up the chunky knit cardigan I’d made him out of rust-colored yarn. It matched one of mine and Remi’s—my favorite one.
“I had to race to finish it in time. Do you know how hard it was not to spoil the surprise the other day?”
He ran his fingers over the cables I’d knit down the front. “It matches yours and Remi’s.”
“It does.” I beamed up at him. “Do you like it?”
“Like it? I love it. Thank you.” Before he even got the last word out, he’d slid his arms into the cardigan. “How do I look?” He gripped the lapels and puffed out his chest.
“As handsome as ever.”
“Can we take a picture together? The three of us in matching sweaters?” His words were rushed, his excitement one of the cutest things I had ever seen.
“Of course.”
He stepped into my space and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me against him. “Thank you.”
Leaning in, he kissed me soft and sweet, completely unbothered by my morning breath mixed with the aftertaste of coffee.
His fingers traveled up to the column of my neck, wrapping around the nape while he deepened the kiss.
I felt myself getting wet, the heat starting between my legs and spreading throughout my body.
I was tempted to beg him to cancel whatever plans he had made and confine him to the bedroom instead.
He pulled away with a laugh, and I groaned.
“There’s plenty of time for that later, sweetheart.” He nuzzled my temple and whispered in my ear, “Do you really think I’d celebrate Valentine’s Day without worshipping your pretty little cunt?”
Holy fuck.
Without another word, he grabbed the tray from the nightstand and headed downstairs, leaving me standing there panting.
It was just plain cruel.
I brushed my teeth and dressed as quickly as possible, layering moisture-wicking long johns under my snow pants and sweater. The snow boots I’d brought felt clunky on my feet as I clopped down the stairs, but at least they’d be warm.
Alistair stood in the living room with Remi cradled in his arms. He’d already dressed the little man in his sweater.
“He didn’t give you any trouble, did he?” Remi was used to wearing sweaters, but normally, I was the one who put them on him.
Alistair scratched Remi’s chin, and the cat practically melted under his touch. “He was a perfect angel. Just like he always is. Come stand over here. I have my phone set up.”
Alistair’s phone was propped against a stack of records pointed at the fireplace. I threw my hair up into a clip and joined the two of them.
Alistair wrapped his free arm around my shoulder, and I rested mine on the small of his back.
“You ready?” he asked.
I fluffed my bangs and adjusted my glasses. “How are you going to take the picture from all the way over here?”
“I have a Bluetooth button. That’s how I take selfies on hiking trips.”
“Technology.”
He chuckled. “All right, on the count of three. One, two, three.”
I stared at the camera and smiled, genuinely smiled, because I was here with my boyfriend wearing matching sweaters and taking pictures with him and my cat.
It was every cat lover’s dream.
Alistair set Remi down and rushed over to his phone. Sliding his finger across the screen, he said, “Holy shit, these are adorable.”
I walked over to him, wrapped my hands around his arm, and pulled his phone down so I could see the pictures.
Alistair and I looked adorable, the two of us in our sweaters and snow pants, holding each other and smiling brightly. Remi was gazing up at Alistair with complete and utter adoration. A look he’d only shown one other person: me.
It was perfect.
“Can you send me that?” I asked, and my phone vibrated in my pocket.
“Already done, sweetheart. You ready to have some fun?”
“Yep. The suspense is killing me.”
We put on our coats, and Alistair led me through the garage, around the back of the house, and down to a large storage shed. He had already shoveled a path, so I didn’t have to trudge through the deep snow.
He stopped in front of the shed. “Close your eyes, babe.”
I did as he asked, enjoying the fact that he was excited and building this up so much.
The rolling door to the shed slid up with a loud clang.
“Open your eyes.”
Sitting in the center of the shed was a shiny minotaur-size snowmobile with two helmets hanging from the handlebars.
Alistair stood next to it with his hands on his hips, grinning wide. “Thought you might like to take a little ride through the mountains.”
“Uh, yes, please.” My body pressed up against Alistair’s while we zoomed around the mountainside? I was sold.
He pushed the snowmobile down a ramp into the snow. Taking one of the helmets off the handlebars, he passed it to me. “Put this on. Safety first.”
I looked at the slip-on helmet, then up at Alistair. “How is that going to work for you?”
He undid the clasps on the sides of his helmet and pulled it into two separate pieces. “It clasps around my horns like this.”
Bringing both pieces up to his head, he clicked them together and secured the clasps with a snap. “See?” he mumbled.
It was one of the coolest things I had ever seen. I loved that the world had adapted and modified things for monsters.
Alistair hopped on the snowmobile, and I pulled on my helmet and gloves, then slid behind him.
“It’s going to be a little loud, so if you want to talk, we’ll have to yell. Hold on to my waist and lean when I lean, okay?”
“Okay.” Growing up in a small town, I’d ridden on the backs of dirt bikes a time or two, so this wasn’t all that new to me.
Alistair started the snowmobile, and the engine roared. I snuggled closer, pressed against him, and held on to his waist tightly.
He cranked the throttle, and we were off.
The snowmobile flew over the snow, the trees lining the trail blurring to a fuzzy haze of green and white.
Peeking around Alistair’s hulking body, I saw the valley and the town off in the distance.
I’d always thought Briar Glenn was picturesque, but it was nothing compared to this.
We rode over a series of hills, and my stomach dropped each time we hit the bottom. I started laughing—that type of uncontrollable laughter that only comes when there’s an element of danger. I knew Alistair wouldn’t let anything happen, but it was thrilling all the same.