“I think I want to walk,” I say. “Eat. Drink wine without checking my phone every five minutes.”
She hums thoughtfully. “That sounds nice.”
“It sounds impossible,” I admit. “Which is probably how I know I need it.”
She reaches up, brushing her thumb along my jaw in a gesture so gentle that it almost undoes me.
“You don’t have to earn rest, Colton,” she says. “You’re allowed to want things.”
Wanting things has never been the problem. Letting myself have them has.
I swallow, something tight in my chest loosening just slightly.
“I’d want to take you,” I say quietly.
Her breath catches. “Me?” she asks.
I nod. “If you’d want that.”
She doesn’t answer right away. Just looks at me like she’s weighing something.
Then she smiles. “I would.”
Relief washes through me, slow and steady. The idea settles between us slowly.
She’s still turned toward me, her hand resting lightly on my chest, fingers splayed, like she’s grounding herself there. I can feel the warmth of her palm through my shirt.
“I know where I’d want to go,” I say finally.
Her eyes brighten. “Where?”
“Italy.”
The word hangs there.
She blinks once. Then again. “Italy?”
I nod. “Tuscany. Small towns. Vineyards. Places where dinner takes hours and nobody cares what time it is.”
Her mouth opens slightly, surprise written all over her face.
“I want to taste wine with you,” I continue, the words coming easier now that I’ve said them once. “Walk throughplaces that don’t feel rushed. Sit somewhere beautiful and … just be.”
She exhales, a soft, disbelieving laugh escaping her. “That sounds unreal.”
“It’s not,” I say. “It could be ours.”
Her excitement flickers, bright and genuine, and then something cautious slips in.
“Colton,” she says gently, “I can’t afford half of that.”
I shake my head immediately. “I didn’t ask you to.”
Her chin lifts, stubbornness I’ve come to recognize already in her eyes. “I wouldn’t feel right letting you pay for everything.”
I turn toward her fully now, wanting her to hear this without distraction.
“Melissa,” I say quietly, “for years, I’ve had all of this money, access, opportunity … and no one to share it with. No one I wanted to build memories with.”
