Chapter 34
Alec
There’s an itching under my skin as I walk Clementine home, like something’s trying to climb out of me. Like my body knows what my brain’s still trying to argue against. I don’t want to leave her side. Not now. Not after a night with her pressed into me like she was built to fit there.
I want to carry her back to the lodge, lay her down in a real bed, and have her stay. Not just the night. All of it.
That thought is a red flag waving in my chest.
It’s too soon. Reckless. I know better than this. I promised myself I wouldn’t be that guy. The one who strings a woman along while he’s still chasing mountains that might kill him. I met too many of them. Husbands who never came home. Kids left behind. I swore I’d be the one who didn’t do that.
But then she reaches for my hand like it’s the easiest thing in the world, and I feel the ground shift under me.
A worry for another day.
“Maybe we can do our weight workout together tomorrow before you go into work?” I ask, slowing our steps near her garage. “Then walk Mozart around the lake after.”
“MoMo,” she corrects, grinning. “Or Mo, Modoodle, Malicious, or even Sir Mo, Duke of Snacks. Depends on the mood.”
“He’s never going to learn his name if you keep calling him a hundred different things.”
“That’s what Dad is for, huh?” she says. “I had a lot of fun, Alec.”
“Me too,” I say. And I mean it more than I want to admit.
“I have inventory at Cody’s for the next two days. Twelve-hour shifts, but I can come in the mornings to take Mozart for a walk.”
“Don’t worry about it. I can take him.” I give in. I’d rather Clem get a few more minutes of sleep. “We’ll take it easy on training and pick it back up later this week.”
“Are you gonna miss me?”
“Every second.”
“Stop being cute.” She leans in and kisses my cheek. “I’ll see you soon.” She walks backward into the garage, slowly dropping my hands like she doesn’t want to go, and disappears behind her door.
I stand there long after it shuts, staring like it might swing back open if I wait her out. It doesn’t. The air is cool enough to sting the inside of my nose.
I turn toward the lodge. The trail crunches under me, and the world opens wider with each step.
Mist clings low to Misthaven Lake, curling around the shoreline like it doesn’t want to let go. The water itself is black glass, rippling only where a loon cuts across the surface, her wings trailing like ink.
I breathe deep. It hurts my lungs in the best way.
My chest is full of something I don’t have a name for yet.
But I know it’s hers.