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Before my eyes drift closed, I catch his shoulder rotating as he waves for traffic to go around us, and a sense of security washes over me. In the middle of a snowstorm, in an intersection during a green light, where we are vulnerable and exposed and in danger’s direct path, I feel…safe. Because of him.
Bringing my arms up around Reece’s neck, I tilt my head and deepen the kiss, never wanting this fantasy to end.
Our lips slow to lazy, sensual caresses, our mouths making love, until eventually they stop moving entirely. Still, we don’t separate.
“I’m obsessed with you,” Reece whispers, his words traveling down my throat, burrowing into my chest and encasing my heart in something I thought I banned myself from ever feeling again. Not only do I feel it from Reece, I feel itforhim, too.
“Let’s go home,” he says.
Home.
For one more moment I remain in the fantasy that we are together and we do live under the same roof, and I nod.
“Do any flowers stand for happiness?” I ask as we turn toward the sidewalk, my skin tingling beneath my layers.
“I can think of a couple.”
We wait for a car to pass, the driver giving us the finger that we return instantly, simultaneously.
After Reece puts himself closest to the road, he tucks me under his arm, keeping the flame kindled by the kiss alive between us as we walk side by side.
“Honeysuckle symbolizes pure happiness.”
Honeysuckle. That’s it. That’s what this weekend feels like—pure happiness.
“Lily of the Valley has a lot of meanings, including happiness. Except…”
I gaze up at him. “Except?”
“It’s also poisonous.”
Lethal bliss. Sounds a lot like blind trust to me.
“You didn’t bring any Lily of the Valley along, did you?”
The way he stares down at me, I feel something simmering, and expect him to tell me he did, but then he shakes his head and looks forward, saying, “No. Only Peruvian Lilies. Alstroemerias.”
“What do those signify?”
“Devotion, since their leaves grow upside down.”
“I’m not seeing the connection.”
“As the leaves grow out from the stems,” he explains, using a hand to demonstrate, “they twist so the bottoms are facing up, mimicking the twists and turns of a relationship.”
Reality rains down on me like an abrupt onslaught of sleet, extinguishing any previous warmth. A relationship? This is a fantasy, and not even a full-length novel, but a weekend-long novella. The kind the author wouldn’t be able to sell, so they throw it up on their website for free. We’re an unmarketable passion-project, not a relationship.
Reece
With the snowstorm in full swing, the drive to the cabin is much longer than the one into town earlier. There’s been zero signal since we left the theater, and we haven’t passed a single car on the deserted backroad, so I’m taking my time, going well under the speed limit to avoid a crash.
Every time I catch a glimpse of Lex she’s riveted by the big, fat flakes showering the windshield as we round a mountain, her expression equal parts fear and fascination. I can tell because that’s exactly how I feel looking at her.
Our time together up here has been perfect, and I’m scared of ruining it. While IthinkI’ve earned her trust, I don’t know for sure.
The only way to find out is to come clean and see how she reacts.
But I’m not doing that right now. Once we’re safe inside the cabin, I will.
