by A. K. Evans
“Do you think I might want to do that?” I asked.
A look of doubt and uncertainty washed over him. “I hope not. But you’re about to have less personal space and room for your things.”
He was crazy. If Mack genuinely believed that I cared about having to share my space with him in a way that would make me not want to do it, I had to wonder if he was thinking straight. Not wanting him to have any doubt about where I stood, I stepped closer, put my palm to the side of his face, and said, “I’ve been living alone for far too long. There’s nothing I can think that I want more than to have you all over this place. I want you in my space all the time, Mack. Even if I happen to get angry or moody, I’ll never not want you with me wherever I am. Never again.”
Mack slipped his arms around my waist, lifted me up, and kissed me. When he pulled back and looked into my eyes, he replied, “It sounds like you’re sure about this, then.”
“I am.”
There was a moment of silence between us before he confirmed, “Okay, so how do you want to do this? Bring everything here first and organize afterward, or do you want to open up some space here first before we clutter it up with all of my stuff?”
“I was thinking more along the lines of the second option,” I answered.
“Works for me.”
For the next couple of hours, Mack and I worked together to get my place set up for the arrival of his things. I’d been to his place a few times since we’d returned to Lily Canyon following our snowboarding trip, and I didn’t hide the fact that I liked some of his furniture better than my own.
So, while we were going to keep my living room furniture and all of my appliances in the kitchen, Mack definitely had the nicer bedroom. His bed was incredibly comfortable, and I couldn’t wait for us to be able to spend every single night in it.
After taking care of the big-ticket items we needed to move, Mack and I shifted our attention to the closet. I had a decently sized walk-in closet, but it was packed with all of my stuff. It had been a while since I’d gone through my clothes and tossed out or donated things I no longer needed. I could think of no better time than the present to do that.
Once I’d loaded up my arms with more clothes than any one person needed, especially someone who spent most of her time in loungewear, I looked at Mack and asked, “Hey, can you grab those shoe boxes for me? I don’t wear most of them, so it’s time to part with a few pairs.”
I didn’t wait for an answer as I walked out of the closet and dumped the clothing on my bed. As I started sorting through it, Mack entered the room carrying boxes and declared, “I didn’t mean for this to result in you getting rid of your clothes.”
Shaking my head, I explained, “I don’t wear more than half of this stuff. It just sits here. I can donate it not only to make some room here but to give it to someone who can actually put it to good use.”
“Are you sure?”
I nodded and pulled a shirt off a hanger. “Yes, Mack. Stop worrying so much.”
He eyed me curiously before returning to the closet to grab more boxes. Mack did that several times, bringing all of my shoes out so that I could go through them and make some decisions. I had just removed all the hangers from the clothing I pulled out when Mack walked into the bedroom and said, “I brought all the shoes out that were on the floor, but this box was up on top with all of your purses.”
I stopped what I was doing and turned fully to him. My eyes dropped to the box I hadn’t pulled out or looked at in years.
Mack came to a stop in front of me and asked, “Is something wrong?”
Tipping my chin up to look him in the eyes, I rasped, “I haven’t opened this box in years.”
His brows shot up, silently questioning me.
Unable to speak, I removed the lid and revealed the contents. My heart immediately started pounding in my chest.
Memories.
So many memories of Mack and me.
Pictures, old lift tickets, and movie theater stubs were just a few of the items inside. There was also a journal. A journal that I hadn’t opened since I made the last entry. I pulled it out, opened it up, and felt the tears well up in my eyes.
Mack set the box down on the bed and wrapped an arm around my back to my opposite shoulder. “What’s going on? What is all this?”
“It’s our past,” I murmured as I turned and sat on the edge of the bed. Mack went with me. “Everything in that box is us.”
“Us?” he repeated.
Nodding, I explained, “Our friendship meant everything to me, and I liked you as more than just a friend. So, I kept things that were special to me, things that reminded me of you. Pictures we took together, our lift tickets from the times we went to the mountain so you could teach me how to ride, and even some movie theater stubs.”
Silence filled the room for the next few moments, but eventually, Mack reached his hand out and touched the journal. “What’s this?” he asked.
“Something I never got the chance to do,” I told him as I held it out to him.
Mack took the journal from my hands and opened it up. He began to flip through it slowly, reading what I’d written on each page. I’d written the date, what cooking show we watched, and the name of the meal or dessert that Mack had indicated he wanted to try someday.
When he made no move to speak, I offered, “I had planned to make all of those for you, but it never happened. When things went south, I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of the journal or any of these other memories.”
“Marley…” He trailed off. It took him a few moments to pull himself together, but he ultimately said, “I’m so sorry you didn’t get the chance to do this. I’d have loved nothing more. But this is where we are now, and if I’m honest, I’d so much rather you make me things that are your own recipes.”
“Does it make you sad?” I asked.
“What? That you didn’t make me any of these?” he countered.
I shrugged. “Kind of. I mean, really, it’s all of it. Not just the recipes.”
Mack twisted his body slightly and set the journal down. He turned toward me, took my hands in his, and insisted, “Baby, I love this. Right here, right now. The two of us are together; we’re happy, and we’re moving in together. If we went through all we did so we could wind up here, I’m more than okay with giving that up so I can have this.”
“You mean that?”
He nodded. “Absolutely.”
I leaned forward, dropped my head to his chest, and slid my arms around his waist. I inhaled deeply and allowed Mack’s words to sink in.
He was right. We were here, we were together, and we were moving in with each other. Holding on to regret wasn’t going to help us.
“Thank you,” I said.
“For what?”
“For making me realize that what we have now is all that matters,” I responded.
Mack’s arms tightened around me. “For what it’s worth, you should know that it means the world to me that you held on to these memories for all these years. It feels good to know that you still kept pieces of us with you.”
That was really sweet of him to say. Because I couldn’t resist him, I pulled my face from his chest, tipped my chin up, and demanded, “Kiss me.”
Mack didn’t disappoint. He honored my request and kissed me. Only when he’d had his fill did he pull back and say, “We should get back to work so we can finish all of this up, and I can kiss you without having to worry about needing to stop.”
I grinned at him. “Okay.”
With that, Mack and I got back to work. And while there was a substantial pile of clothing and shoes that needed to be donated in the end, I made certain to put the box with the memories of our early days back into a safe spot in the closet.
By that night, my closet no longer had just my things in it. Mack’s stuff was there, too. And out in the bedroom, Mack and I slept together in his bed. Nothing felt better than that.
Five days later
Excit
ement built inside me.
This was going to be so much fun.
It was approaching lunchtime, and I had decided to make it a memorable one.
Living with Mack had proven to be an adventure, even if it hadn’t been that long. Truthfully, it felt as though we’d been living together ever since our trip to Hidden Lake Ski Resort. We hadn’t spent a night apart from one another since then, and I didn’t mind that one single bit.
I loved that our schedules were similar, and that we could spend the better part of our days with each other. If nothing else, it gave us the opportunity to make up for so much lost time.
It wasn’t until I’d resolved things with Mack, and we returned to Lily Canyon, to our regular lives, that I realized how much peace I finally felt. It was one thing being at the resort and on vacation. It was something else entirely to be home. I almost wanted to say I loved it more because I knew this would be our lives moving forward.
But over the last couple of days, I’d been thinking about some of the conversations Mack and I had had with each other. One in particular came to mind, and it gave me an idea. As much as I loved what our lives had become being with each other at home, I didn’t want us to lose so many of the fun aspects of being on our trip.
So, today I was going to fulfill a little fantasy for Mack.
He’d gone back to his place earlier this morning to work since his gym was still there, but he had called me about ten minutes ago to let me know that he was on his way back. That was still working out for us, too. Mack got to leave and go do his thing every morning—filming training classes and getting his own workout in—while I stayed home and did my thing in the kitchen. Then he’d take a shower before calling me and letting me know he was heading back home to me.
Now that he’d done that, and I expected him to walk in at any moment, I couldn’t have been more excited. Not only for myself, but also for the reaction I’d receive from him.
And since I knew that his reaction was likely to be a very appreciative one, I felt it was necessary to make sure that I prepared a lunch that didn’t need to be eaten while hot.
Avocado tuna salad.
I had gotten all the ingredients out and washed them, but I refused to chop anything up or mix it until Mack returned.
Barely a moment later, I heard the door open. “Marley, I’m home,” Mack called out.
I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. I loved hearing him say that. Not only did it remind me of one of my favorite television shows from when I was a kid—if only my name had been Lucy—but it warmed my heart to hear him refer to this place as home.
“I’m in the kitchen,” I returned as I braced myself.
The next thing I knew, Mack had appeared, but he remained frozen to the spot the second his eyes landed on me.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
I picked up my knife in one hand and a tomato in the other. Placing the tomato on the cutting board, I brought the knife to it and looked up at Mack. His eyes were riveted to me.
I smiled at him.
“You’re so fucking beautiful, Marley,” he announced, his voice a deep rasp. “I love you so much.”
Trying not to break character, I shot him a seductive look, bit the corner of my lip, and started chopping up the tomato.
Mack watched.
I moved onto the avocado next.
Mack continued to watch.
When I started on the bell pepper, the man I loved more than anything in the world started moving in my direction.
By the time I started chopping up the parsley to add to the bowl, Mack was positioned behind me. His jeans brushed up against my naked ass and legs as his hands settled on my hips.
Shivers ran over my skin as he kissed my bare shoulder and up along my neck toward my ear. Once his mouth was there, he whispered, “I love this outfit.”
“There’s not much to it,” I noted.
I felt his lips form a smile against my ear just before he nibbled on the lobe. “That’s what makes it so enticing.”
I’d questioned whether it was best to go completely naked or mostly naked. I’d settled on the latter and ended up putting on a sexy apron.
Lifting the cutting board off the countertop, I used the knife to scrape the parsley into the bowl. The moment I set it down, the backs of Mack’s fingers brushed gently against my ass. The gentle caress was almost too much for me to take, and suddenly, I was the one who was frozen to the spot.
When his hands reached my lower back, Mack untied the apron from around my waist. He reached up and lifted the piece of fabric that had been around my neck over my head. The apron hadn’t even landed on the floor when Mack’s fingers were between my legs.
I had no choice but to drop the knife so I could hold on to the counter. Mack’s other hand wrapped around the front of my torso to my opposite breast, where he began toying with my nipple.
My ass was pressed against his erection, his fingers were playing between my legs, and it still wasn’t enough.
“Mack, please,” I begged.
“What do you want?” he asked.
“You,” I answered without a moment of hesitation.
His hands stopped moving, but they remained on my body. “I thought we were going to have lunch first.”
No way.
No way could I even think about finishing making this food without having him inside me first.
“Don’t be cruel,” I pleaded.
Mack let out a soft chuckle before he ordered, “Stay just like that.”
I did as he asked, keeping my hands planted on the edge of the counter. I didn’t turn around as I waited for Mack to get out of his clothes and to put a condom on. Doing that only served to make the anticipation build.
For that reason, I was caught completely off guard when Mack touched me again between my legs, and I let out a moan in response.
Then he was inside me.
And the feeling that moved through me was everything. Aside from the physical pleasure that built from Mack’s relentless and brutal thrusts, there was an overwhelming sense of relief and pride.
I was giving this to him. A fantasy he’d had.
Maybe I’d been upset days ago that I hadn’t been able to make any of the recipes in that journal for him. I was now realizing that it didn’t matter because I could give him this.
Mack and I had grown up. We had new wants and desires. And I had a feeling that Mack would take this, me waiting for him in the kitchen practically naked while making him one of my original recipes, over everything else.
Judging by the sounds coming from him, Mack definitely wanted this. As he reached one hand around to help ease the ache between my legs and build me up fast, his other hand drifted down my spine and to my hip.
He squeezed me there, powered his hips forward, and occasionally pressed kisses to the skin on my shoulder.
I took.
I took and took and took.
I did that until I couldn’t take any more.
“Mack,” I finally called out, the warning clear in my tone.
He went harder.
And a moment later, I dropped to my elbows on the counter as my orgasm tore through me. Mack saw me through it, never once slowing down until he found his own release.
For several seconds afterward, we stayed like that, breathing heavy and feeling sated.
“Was it better than you had hoped it would be?” I asked after I’d regained control of my breath.
“Everything with you has been better than the fantasy every single time,” Mack assured me. “And for what it’s worth, my fantasies involving you were always fantastic.”
After delivering that bit of information, he pulled out and turned me around in his arms. We kissed each other, both of us apparently not finished with showing each other how we felt.
When we pulled apart, I shared, “I was too afraid to have any visions or dreams about what it could be like between us. But I’m definitely not disappointed with what I got. I�
�ve finally made a decision, though.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
I licked my lips, searched his face, and replied, “I’m not looking back any longer. From this point forward, it’s all about what we can give to each other to make this work. I hate what we lost, but I think we’re doing a heck of a job making up for it. I want to keep going on this path.”
A devastatingly handsome smile broke out on Mack’s face. “That makes me happy to hear, Marley. We deserve this, and we should enjoy every single moment of it.”
I couldn’t argue with that sentiment, so I didn’t. The silence stretched between us for a moment before I asked, “Are you hungry?”
“Yeah.”
“How about we get cleaned up and do something about that, then?” I suggested.
Mack drove his fingers into my hair and kissed me senseless again before he stepped back and took me by the hand. We both got ourselves cleaned up and enjoyed the rest of our afternoon together.
Life had never been better.
And I knew it was only going to improve with each day I shared with him.
Epilogue
Mack
One month later
“I can’t believe you brought me back here already.”
There was so much excitement and joy present in Marley’s voice. She was thrilled to be here with me right now. I couldn’t say I didn’t feel exactly the same as her.
We were back in the place that had helped us to reconcile. We’d reunited in the best way possible while we were here last time, and it easily became a place that was important to me.
And it was about to become even more special. But I was relatively certain that Marley had no idea what I was about to do.
Yesterday morning, I packed our bags and our gear into my truck and brought Marley back to Hidden Lake Ski Resort. She was certainly surprised, but she made it clear when we arrived just how happy she was to be back. We were only going to be here for just a few days, and I had every intention of making just as memorable as our first trip here. Maybe even more so.
We had just ridden down to the very bottom of the mountain and were making our way over to the lift when Marley had made her declaration. She was still in shock that I’d planned this surprise trip for us.