“This little pocket of paradise is really yours?” I ask.
Once again, he shrugs it off.
For a cocky brat who runs an empire, he’s humble in ways that never cease to surprise me.
“I can never stay away from this view for long. When I started freelancing, I used to rent this cabin every couple of months. Sometimes more if I was going through a rough patch. A few years ago Pete and Margot put it on the market, and I couldn't let it slip through my fingers.”
He turns to gesture at his handiwork.
“Knocked out the wall to add that huge window along the side. Gave it a bit of a spruce up, with a new kitchen and bathroom. Thankfully, Astra Luna was thriving by then.”
“Astra Luna?” I tease. “Isn't that place run by some devastatingly hot, bossy man?”
He nudges my shoe playfully.
“Depends who you ask.”
My hand settles on his waist.
“You inspire me, you know that? You hopped off a bus with nothing but a backpack and a notebook. And now here you are. You've built everything you ever dreamed of.”
“Almost,” he replies.
Perhaps there’s a missing piece to his puzzle.
Someone he still misses.
Someone who was meant to leave Jundah with him.
“And I couldn't have done it alone,” he says.
“Beth?”
“Beth… and friends. And now, you.”
“Friends like Porter?”
A familiar jealousy rises in my chest, but I push it aside.
“Porter was one of them,” he nods.
“Guess someone had to keep an eye on you,” I grin. “Trouble maker arriving in the big smoke.”
He gives a cheeky shrug.
We throw pebbles for a moment, watching the ripples spread across the water.
Then my curiosity gets the better of me.
“You don’t have to tell me, but…”
“Mmm?”
He rubs the back of my neck.
“Porter was someone who made you feel safe when you got to the city. He looked after you?”
“Yeah. He was a total rock when I first arrived.”
