Chapter 25 Rose
I slowly open my eyes, and find myself snuggled against a sea of blankets, a sleeping bag, and Wes. He’s still breathing evenly next to me, completely asleep. Looking over at him, even with his eyes closed, he’s so handsome. Everything that happened last night feels a bit crazy, yet I can’t help but keep smiling thinking about it. I also blush a little bit.
I decide to stay and enjoy the quiet inside the tent, but soon the sun is warming everything up, the wind is lightly blowing, and waves loudly crash against the rocks. I love that we’re so close to the lake we could hear the waves and the crickets all night—definitely a favorite sound. All at once our little cave feels a little too warm, so I get up.
I’m just starting to make tea over the fire when I hear the zipper to the tent open.
Wes comes over to me with a smile on his face, wraps his arms around me, and says, “Good morning, beautiful.” I snuggle into his soft flannel and allow myself to fully feel the comfort and safety in his embrace for the first time.
“Good morning,” I sigh. This feels so nice, and I can’t help but wonder if we’re going to have a repeat of last night as I get a feel of him against my back. I turn and reach up to kiss him—his lips warm and already like a home I had forgotten. We stay like that for a while, just curled up together, enjoying the fire and soon our tea and coffee are ready. After pouring ourselves a cup, we make our way through the dewy grass to sit at the table together.
“How did you sleep?” he asks, breaking our silence.
“Really good, I had an excellent tent buddy. Very attentive.” I smile. I don’t miss the way his eyes flash to me at that. His smirk tells me that he’s proud of himself and I make a note to tease him about that later.
“I’m glad to hear that. I had an amazing time, Rose.” He pauses, lifting his head to the breeze, thinking. “It almost feels like a dream how good we are together. I don’t know how you’re feeling, and I know we’ve talked about it, but I want to be clear that this doesn’t feel like a fling to me. Things have always felt big when it comes to you.” He looks at me expectantly.
Oh wow . I know he cares about me and that we had a lot of emotions going into last night, but I also don’t know if I expected him to feel this way. I sit still for slightly too long and Wes starts fidgeting in his seat. My heart flutters as I move over to be closer to him. Both of us smell of smoke and sleep, but as I move to sit next to him, he holds me close.
“I feel the same way,” I answer softly. “Having you back here has been so unexpectedly wonderful. At first I was worried about what it was bringing up for me, but after our talk last night, I understand more now and I’d love to keep exploring where this takes us. I really loved last night.” I lean down and kiss him again. “I’m so happy you’re home and I don’t think I have the words to say how it all makes me feel.” A single tear slides down my cheek and then he’s kissing it away, picking me up and bringing me over to the hammock he set up at some point yesterday.
We have a lazy hour of kissing and talking—catching up on more of the things we’ve missed in each other’s lives. I learned that his mom now bakes and sells her cookies on TikTok. His dad is struggling to make ends meet with his work at a greenhouse, but they both love Wes very much and have supported him. I told him about college, studying abroad, and what it felt like to be outside of Raspberry Falls.
It’s difficult for either of us to leave. So instead we spend the morning basking in the sun and taking it all in before we both have to get to work and to the rest of our day. We drag our feet and try to put it off, but eventually give in to the day ahead.
Before heading home, Wes leans over to me, lightly kissing my lips and gazing down softly at me. His dark eyes search my own before he says, “Kissing you has always been my favorite thing.” He winks at me as I watch him move his bag to the car.
And I think my heart melts into a million pieces.