I thought of Gideon calling Hazel “Bug” and sprawling on the rug while doing his truly horrible accent. Smiling as he hung picture after terrifying picture of Santa Claus on every vertical surface in his kitchen and letting his entire house be taken over by decorations. Taking her to buy a Christmas tree and letting her co-opt his cat into her super villain sidekick. Answering a hundred and two questions before breakfast. Sayingfa la latwenty thousand times a day.
Hewasthe kind of influence I wanted around my child.
Hesowas.
And Scott was a judgmentalassholewho needed to get gone.
“Couple things you need to know, Scott.” I advanced on him angrily and Scott’s eyes widened. “First, Gideon is a firefighter. He’s fuckingbrave. He putshissafety on the line to make sureotherpeople are safe. Second”—I took another step toward him, shepherding him toward the open door—“he is one of the best people I have ever met in my entire life. He iskindand he isfunnyand he knows how to love in a way I don’t think you’ll ever be capable of, which is really fucking sad for you. Three, I do notneedyour help. I do notwantyour help. My career was going fine before you ever asked me out for coffee. And most important of all,”—I took one more step so Scott was standing on the threshold, nearly out of the house— “Gideon isnotmy friend,he’s my fucking husband. So you can take your snotty, know-it-all ass out of his house, and out of his town, and out of my life. Got it?”
“But I… but you…” Scott gaped like a fish, which was really fucking satisfying.
“No more calls. No more texts.”
“But youinvited me,” Scott insisted. “Liam.Sunshine…”
“I thinkmy husbandwas pretty clear, Scott.” Gideon’s mild voice from out on the porch made my stomach flip in the best possible way. “Why don’t you remove yourself from my property before I have to remove you?”
Scott turned to look at Gideon and his eyes widened even farther. He swallowed. Then he turned back to me. “Fine. I’ll go. But if I walk away, that’s it—”
“Yes,” I said, throwing my hands up in exasperation. “That’s exactly what I’m hoping for here.”
“Excuse me,” Gideon said, pushing Scott out of the way. He walked into the house, locked the door behind him, and turned to me. His tawny eyes were lighter than I’d ever seen them. “Say that whole thing again,” he demanded.
I licked my lips. “Which part? The part about going away?”
Gideon shook his head. “Definitelynotthat part.” He stepped toward me, and I took a step back, but this time I didn’t really want to get away, which was handy since he caught me and pinned me to the wall by the door.
“The part about you being a really brave firefighter?”
He grinned and slid his hands down to my wrists, then slid my wrists up above my head. “Shoot, I missed that part. You can definitely repeatthat… but later.”
“The, ah… the part where I said you’re the best person I’ve ever known?”
His features softened, but he shook his head.
“The part where I called you my husband?” I whispered.
Gideon’s eyes slid shut, and he pulled in a deep breath before resting his forehead against mine. “Yeah, baby, that one. Tell me that again.”
“I actually have alotof things to tell you,husband. But I—” Belatedly, I looked around the hall like I expected a seven-year-old chatterbox to suddenly appear. “Wait, where’s Hazel?”
“With Angela at the tree lot.” He nuzzled my neck with his nose, then slid farther until his lips were brushing my jaw. “Probably forcing O’Learians to consider trees with the rightaesthetic. We have a couple hours.” He pulled back to nip at my chin. “That long enough to tell me all the things you have to tell me?”
“Long enough to start,” I allowed.
He grinned… and then his eyes caught sight of something on the table by the door and he scowled. “Stay right here.”
I nodded but otherwise didn’t move as Gideon picked up the bouquet Scott had brought and chucked it out the door.
“I guess Scott left? Or did he get a face full of rose petals?”
“He’s gone,” Gideon said. He kicked my feet wider to give himself more room and took up his spot again. The way his pelvis fit against mine in this position was a goddamn thing of beauty, and I couldn’t help pushing against him. “The flowers are on the lawn. And since they’re predicting light snow tonight andheavysnow Sunday”—he grinned—“Ipredict we’ll find the remains of those flowers in the spring.”
Wewould. I really liked the sound of that.
But Gideon misread the tension in my body. “I mean… assuming we’re still living here then,” he said, his eyes on mine. “Pretty presumptuous to think you’d give up everything in Boston to movehere, but maybe after school—”
I lifted my head and cut off his foolishness with a kiss. “You said, the first night we were here, that maybe there was a place where the things I wanted to do and the things Ihadto do could overlap. A happy medium. And I think maybe that place is here. In O'Leary. And it's not a happy medium, it’s just... happy.”
