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“But?” Zann echoed when Lydia didn’t finish the thought. She grinned when Lydia popped up to look down at her. “Yes?”

“Come on.” Lydia’s eyes sparkled as she added, “I have an idea.”

Lydia took Zann’s arm and leaned into her side as she let her gaze sweep over the otherwise empty strand that stretched before them. The cold bite of the waves that washed over her bare feet as they meandered along the tideline had, at first, made her gasp in shock, but now she only noticed the ebb and flow of the hushed crescendo that washed away any evidence of their footsteps before retreating again. It was as if the ocean was doing its best to anchor them in this moment where it felt like they were the only two people in the entire world.

She smiled at the feeling of Zann shivering ever so slightly beside her, and hummed as she turned her head to kiss the underside of her jaw. “You okay?”

“I mean, I’d be better if it weren’t freezing, but…”

“Freezing?” Lydia teased as she nipped at her throat. “Really?”

“Yes, really.” Zann playfully jostled her. “I’m a warm-blooded girl, okay? I don’t do winter.”

“It’s almost fifty. The sun is out.” Lydia gestured toward the cloudless blue sky that was brightening by the minute. “It’s, like, the perfect spring day, and it’s not even eight a.m.”

“Yeah, we’re just gonna have to agree to disagree on that one,” Zann grumbled.

Lydia laughed. “How did you survive high school in Western Mass? Or! Even better, filming that skiing documentary?”

“They were both very near things,” Zann retorted, her droll expression lasting only a couple of heartbeats longer before she smiled and laughed along with her.

Zann was so beautiful with her face alight with joy that Lydia couldn’t resist tugging on her arm to bring that smile into range so she could taste it. “You’re adorable.”

“Yeah, well…” Zann nuzzled her cheek. “Remember that when I’m bitching about actual winter.”

Lydia’s heart squeezed as Zann’s lips pressed sweetly against hers. Yes, they’d briefly talked about what a future might look like, but to hear Zann speak of it as if it were a foregone conclusion that she’d be in New York when “actual winter” rolled around again?

God, I love her so fucking much.

“I will,” she promised.

“Gonna be so sexy stripping out of five layers of long-underwear,” Zann joked.

“Just five?” Lydia teased.

“Yeah, maybe six.” Zann kissed her softly. “Or seven.”

Lydia laughed and tipped her chin to chase after Zann’s lips as she reached up with her free hand to cradle Zann’s cheek. “I guess I’ll just have to find a way to power through,” she murmured as she tugged her closer. Her stomach fluttered at the way Zann yielded to her with a sigh, and she clung to her as she kissed her slow and sweet, like this conversation deserved. Because, joking or not, it was about the future.

Their future.

And, oh, she’d never wanted anything more.

She moaned into the kiss when Zann’s tongue flicked lightly against her lips, and gave up trying to walk and kiss her at the same time as she opened for her. Her stomach fluttered when Zann responded by wrapping her free arm around her waist and pulling her in close as their kisses deepened, and she clung to her as she let herself become lost in the heavenly perfection of Zann’s affection.

When they eventually broke apart, her heart skipped a beat at the way Zann hummed as she blinked her eyes open to smile at her, and she traced the curve of her cheek with her thumb as she drank her, and everything about this moment, in. “I love you.”

Zann’s smile gentled as she leaned into her hand. “I love you,” she swore, her long, dark eyelashes dipping prettily as she kissed her again. “Tell me the truth,” she murmured as she pulled away. “Did you kiss me like that because you were picturing me in a pair of button-ass long johns and you just couldn’t contain yourself?”

Lydia snorted. “Oh yeah. Totally.”

“Thought so,” Zann chuckled. “I could rock ‘em, though.” She pressed her lips together in playful contemplation. “Wonder where I can get some?”

“I mean,” Lydia chuckled, “if you’re serious about wanting a pair, I’m sure you can find them online.”

Zann winked at her. “I’ll make sure to look into that this fall.”

“You do that.” Lydia rolled her eyes fondly.