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He rolled his eyes at himself when he caught himself scanning all the windows when they walked out of the bathroom. For fuck’s sake, they were in the trees. Half of the windows were inaccessible unless you had rope and fantastic fucking tree-climbing skills.
Five minutes later, they were on the bike. She had his backpack on, and they headed to town to grab takeout. His plan was to take her to one of his favorite places and eat with a beautiful view before heading home and moving all of her stuff to the treehouse.
They grabbed hot subs from the mom and pop diner next to the construction company a lot of his brothers worked for. He rode into the parking lot of the scenic view park and backed into a spot before killing the engine and setting the jiffy stand on the bike.
“Where are we?”
“You’ll see.” He dismounted the bike and took her hand to help her off. Once she was on her feet, he took the backpack from her and laced his fingers with his. “Come on.”
He led her across the deck that disappeared through a tree line. When they got to the other side of the trees, he heard her gasp and smiled. It was quite the fucking view, and he was glad she liked it, but that wasn’t where they were going to eat.
“Is that… Lake Michigan?”
For miles, all that was in view was water, blue skies, and the remaining floating ice chunks left over as the lake thawed.
“Yes.” The deck widened at the end to provide space for several people to admire the view. He turned to the left and brought her to a set of wooden stairs. Still holding her hand, he led her down the two-hundred steps and stepped off onto the path through the woods. Fifty yards down the footpath, after stepping out from the trees, the sound of crashing waves filled the silence, the wind picked up and whipped their hair around, and the sand dunes came into view.
“Holy shit,” Kitten breathed as they came to halt between two dunes.
Arbor glanced at her shocked expression, before his gaze returned to the beauty in front of him — Endless water, waves, and sky.
“It’s almost like…”
“Yeah. It’s like a small sea.” He looked over at her again, amused by the astonishment on her face, before he released her hand and unzipped the backpack. Pulling out the blanket, he spread it out on the ground in front of him. He took a seat with his legs spread a bit and his knees bent. “Sit with me.”
Kitten stepped over his thigh and settled between his legs. “I mean… I knew the lake is huge, and I’ve seen it from the shoreline down south a bit, but… how does it look so different here?”
“I think it has to do with how large the lake is.” Arbor gave her a hug and kissed the side of her head, before he gathered her hair and fastened it back with the hair tie she handed him. Then he did the same with his, using the hair tie he always kept in his pocket.
“Thank you,” she said as she stared out at the rolling water, “for bringing me here… and everything.”
He wrapped her up and held her tight. “Nothing to thank me for, Kitten. I wanted you to see where I go to think. I’ve made a hell of a lot of decisions out here, probably the most important one was whether or not to join the Howlers. I mean… it wasn’t a hard decision, but yeah.”
“I’ve never had a thinking spot.” She settled back against his chest. “I’ve never really had a family or a home, either.”
Against the top of her head, he said, “Now, you have both. And I’ll even share this spot with you.”
She tilted her head back and to the side, looking up at him. “I love you, Arbor.”
He pressed a soft kiss to her lips and replied, “I love you, too, Kitten.”
They spent Sunday doing something she told him she always wanted to try, but never had the chance. Arbor took it as his mission to find out every single one of those things and make sure to check each of them off of the list. Life was about love and experiences, and his mate was going to do exactly that.
“Axe throwing?”
The surprise and joy on her face when he helped her off of his bike in the parking lot had Arbor grinning. Her excitement was infectious.
“You said you wanted to try it.”
“I did.” She let him take her hand and giggled as she looked up at him. “Aren’t you afraid I might accidentally hurt you?”
Arbor shrugged. “Nah. My woman is a badass. I have a feeling you’re going to be a natural.”
She cuddled into his arm as they headed for the door of the warehouse. “Thank you.”
“No need to thank me, Kitten.” He lowered his head to the side and kissed the top of her head.
“Is this why you insisted on me wearing the one flannel shirt I own?”
