Chapter 18
Sierra had never freaked out this much about something that wasn’t work.
Her apartment looked like a Pinterest board threw up.
Candles adorned every flat surface, fairy lights she’d spent an hour untangling, and a playlist Calliope helped her make called “For Every Version of You I’ve Loved” playing in the background.
“It’s romantic but not spa-music weird,” Calliope had promised when they picked out songs.
The rose petals had cost her forty dollars.
Forty dollars for flower bits she was going to scatter on the floor like confetti.
Lauren was worth every penny and then some.
She’d made a trail from the door to her bedroom and covered the bed, then stood back wondering if it looked romantic or like a crime scene.
Wine was chilling. She assembled the cheeseboard. Candles were lit, and she was losing her mind. She grabbed her phone and made a quick group chat without Lauren.
Sierra: Help, is this too much??? What if they think I’m insane?
Raven: You’re fine. stop spiraling
Jett: It’s cute as hell
Calliope: Put on the black lace thing we bought and stop being a baby
Sierra sent back a row of kiss emojis and was reaching for her phone to text Lauren when it buzzed.
Lauren: Hey babe, can you meet me at the park near the coffee truck? I need help shooting some promo content. bring your camera? ?? magic hour waits for no one.
“Oh, come on.” She stared at her phone. “Seriously?”
Salem was watching from his spot on the couch, tail twitching like he thought this was hilarious.
“Don’t look at me like that. This timing is insane.”
She blew out the candles, grabbed her camera, and ran out.
Lauren’s surprise had been perfect. The whole picnic thing with lights in the trees, the photo book, those little heart keychains. Sierra cried actual happy tears. They kissed under the fairy lights and walked home. Sierra felt like she might float away.
Now Lauren stood in her doorway looking stunned.
“Holy shit.” Lauren took in the candles and rose petals. “You did all this?”
“I was about to text you when you texted me.” Sierra was grinning so hard her cheeks hurt. “We’re idiots.”
“We planned the same thing on the same night?”
“Apparently we’re that couple now.”
“I love that we’re that couple.” Lauren kissed her cheek.
They ended up on the couch with wine. Sierra’s hands were shaking when she handed over the letter.
You showed up in my life like something I didn’t know I was looking for.
That first coffee shop smile broke me open in the best way.
With you, I laugh until my sides hurt and dream about things I never thought I wanted.
I want to build something real and messy and beautiful with you.
Thank you for seeing me, all of me, and sticking around anyway.
Every day feels like we’re just getting started. ~S
Lauren pressed the letter to their chest. “You’re gonna make me cry.”
“Good cry though, right?”
The drawing made them go quiet. Sierra had spent weeks on it. It was the two of them curled up on her couch with Salem draped between them like a furry blanket.
Lauren laced her fingers through hers. “This is us.”
“This is how it feels. Like home.”
They sat there sipping wine and talking in those soft voices you use when something feels sacred. Kissing slow and sweet. Then Lauren stood up with a look in their eyes and held out a hand.
“Come on.”
The bedroom looked like a fairy tale with all the candles and scattered petals. Lauren stopped in the doorway.
“Sierra. This is...”
“Too much?”
“Perfect.” They pulled her close. “You’re perfect.”
Salem meowed from the living room, offended they’d abandoned him.
“Sorry, buddy,” Lauren replied. “Find somewhere else to hang out for a bit. You can’t see what I’m about to do to your momma.”
Sierra laughed, face hot from wine and nerves. “We don’t have to—I mean, if you’re not ready—”
“I’m ready. I don’t want to wait anymore.”
The first kiss was careful. The second one wasn’t. They kissed as if they couldn’t get close enough. Clothes came off slowly, every piece a question answered with a nod or a soft “yes.”
Lauren’s mouth found that spot on Sierra’s neck, and she gasped. Sierra’s hands got lost in Lauren’s hair, holding them close as everything turned electric.
When Sierra eased Lauren back onto the bed, she kissed a trail across their skin, collarbone, chest, then throat. Every touch felt like a conversation they were having without words.
They moved together as if they’d been learning each other forever. Sierra’s kisses traveled lower, reverent and slow, until Lauren’s breath caught and they whispered her name like a prayer.
“Tell me if you want me to stop,” Sierra said against their skin.
“Don’t stop. Please.” Lauren’s fingers twisted in the sheets.
Sierra took her time, patient and devoted, until Lauren fell apart beneath her touch, calling her name into the flickering darkness.
Next, Lauren kissed her with a deep, hungry, and grateful kiss. “Your turn.”
Lauren returned every tender kiss, every whispered devotion, until Sierra’s back arched and her breath came in soft gasps, Lauren’s name spilling from her lips.
Afterward, they lay tangled together, skin cooling in the breeze from the window. Lauren traced patterns on Sierra’s shoulder while Sierra kissed whatever part of them she could reach.
“You’re my everything, Sierra.”
Sierra smiled against their collarbone. “... and you are mine.”
Outside, the wind stirred the curtains like a lullaby, and for the first time in either of their lives, running away was the furthest thing from their minds.