Rafe rebranded me with every movement, every look, and every word he spoke.
“Rafe,” I moaned as he thrust hard, slowly withdrew, swiveled his hips, and then pressed in deeper. I was seconds from an orgasm as he began to slow his pace.
“No,” I protested in the depths of everything he was giving me. “I need this so much.”
He pulled out and gently flipped me over, my feet barely touching the floor as he thrust in again and gripped the back of my t-shirt with his fist. I came with a shriek as he buried himself deep, and he followed close, groaning out his release. We collapsed bare-assed on the kitchen floor. He pulled me onto his lap and explored my mouth for endless minutes before he pulled back and declared, “No end.”
Rafe and I spent hours in bed eating, sleeping, and laughing as we fell back into our old groove. I lied to myself every minute, pretending it would last. That it wasn’t temporary. That he didn’t have a flight to catch in mere hours.
Rafe lay next to me, screwing with his cell phone as I kissed the hard planes of his stomach and chest. Then threw the covers over both of our heads, making a tent with the blanket. Rafe’s eyes drifted over me with amusement as I sat in the middle of our makeshift teepee.
“No cell phones allowed in the tent, sir.”
“Give me two minutes.”
I cupped his balls and squeezed. Rafe’s stomach surged and he let out a grunt and dropped his phone on his chest.
“Baby, we need to talk.”
I shook my head and cut him off. “They can have you back in a few hours, Rafe. I mean, you are leaving soon.” I hadn’t meant for my voice to sound so desperate, but he heard it.
Careful eyes watched me, and I turned away from him briefly and pulled the tent down. “Damn it. I’m sorry.”
“Alice,” he whispered as he tugged at my hand. “I want to take a picture.”
“I’m not in the mood to smile, Rafe.” Even hours after he swore to me our arrangement wasn’t working, he was still returning to Denver, and our future remained unchanged. I didn’t want to dwell on it, though I was furious with him.
He sat up and kicked his legs over the bed and crossed the room, gloriously naked, until he reached his tote. He pulled out a tiny glove and some boxers then walked back over to me.
I perked up a bit as I studied what was in his hand. “That’s it?”
He smiled at me warmly as he pulled his boxers on and tossed it to me. He knelt by the bed as I studied it.
“So small,” I noted as I attempted to shove my hand in. Rafe lifted his camera, and I heard the phone click just as I felt the warm, circular metal inside.
Stunned, I looked at him as he pulled me down to the edge of the bed and then stood me before him as I pulled the ring from the glove, my chin quivering.
“Alice,” he whispered as he choked on my name. I looked down at him with tears streaming down my face and a loud yes on the tip of my tongue. His eyes watered as he strained to get the words out. In that moment, I felt justified for every minute I spent waiting, every second I mourned and missed him, and every second before when I dreamt of a someday with a version of him that he’d already surpassed. He pulled the ring from my hand and kissed my ring finger twice—the way he had just before he left. I didn’t realize it then, but he’d made me a silent promise.
“I have a new future in my head and it has to be with you. I want you with me. I want this, us, for as many seasons as we have. I love you more,” he whispered as he pulled the glove away from my hand and made sure I caught his meaning. “I love you so much more. Marry me?”
I nodded and whispered yes as I gripped him to me and kissed him like I no longer had to pretend, because I didn’t and I would never have to as long as I had Rafe.
Later that day on a flight to Denver, Rafe and I clasped hands and spoke of our future. After a tongue lashing in the best way due to my omission about leaving my job, and an even