“Do we have to rush?”
“If we want to get the best view, yes.” He opened the door for me and ushered me inside. Gray slipped into the driver’s seat, and the engine grumbled to life.
“Best view? Of the movie? To be honest, Gray, it’s not really the movie I’m interested in seeing. I just…wanted to spend the evening with you.”
“Sweet boy.” Gray leaned over and kissed me briefly. “If we don’t hurry, we’ll miss the sunset. I know the perfect place to watch the sun going down.”
“But the movie—”
“Like you said. Neither of us is interested in the movie.”
“So we watch the sunset?”
“We watch the sunset, sweetheart. What better view to have when I propose to you?”
He winked at me playfully, and reality left a bitter taste on my tongue. This was just roleplay. I shouldn’t take it seriously, but it was too late to turn back. Neither did I want to. I liked being with Gray, liked the person I was when I was with him. Pieces of myself that I’d lost over the years were returning, thanks to how he treated me.
I let out a soft laugh, leaning back in the leather seat as Gray pulled onto the road, the last slivers of daylight filtering through the windshield. He drove too fast, and we bounced around a lot, but he handled the truck with ease, and I wasn’t scared we would end up in a ditch. I kept staring at his hands, the callouses that had hitched on my skin, abrasive and such a fucking turn-on.
Fifteen minutes later, Gray turned off onto a dirt road, kicking up a plume of dust. We climbed a steep hill until he parked the truck on a flat overlook. From our vantage point, we had a perfect view over the vast expanse of the valley below. The setting sun had dyed the sky in hues of burnt orange and vivid pink, which reflected off the quiet river winding its course through the valley.
“This is one of the places where I used to come when I needed to think.” He switched off the engine. “It’s been too long.”
He reached into the back of the truck and took out blankets and a basket. I blinked in surprise. He smiled. “I have a little romantic side to me.”
A little was an understatement. I helped him spread the blankets in the bed of the truck, and then we climbed into the back, settling against the rear window. Gray pulled two thermos flasks out of the basket. He poured me a cup of hot chocolate and looked at me as though asking if I was all right with his choice.
I nodded, a soft smile on my lips as I accepted the cup. We drank in silence as the sun dipped lower in the sky. The wind picked up, carrying a fresh chill that had me snuggling closer to Gray for warmth. His arm came around my shoulders naturally, pulling me against his side where I fit perfectly. He didn’t push me away. Didn’t tell me I was crowding him and he needed more space. Didn’t argue with me that I was crushing him when I told him I wasn’t that heavy.
I wanted the moment to be frozen in time, to capture the serenity, the feel of him against me, the warmth his presence brought me. I wanted to always remember how it felt to sit here with him, beneath the setting sun, sipping hot chocolate with no need for words.
The scenery was nothing like I’d seen before, the distant mountains standing silent as the shadows from the setting sun crept over them. Below the river mirrored the sky's palette, like a shimmering canvas of colors. It was a painting in the making, and we were lucky nature allowed us to be a part of its creation.
An ache swelled in my chest, a piercing longing that seemed to mirror the melancholy beauty of the setting sun. I tried to swallow it down, but the lump remained stubbornly lodged in my throat. An incredible sadness spread through me, and my heart drummed faster. Why did I feel so alone in this world?
I felt Gray’s eyes on me, soft and always so understanding. He gently took the flask from my trembling hand and set it aside. He brushed away a tear that had leaked from my eye.
“Ozzie, what’s wrong?”
I shook my head, but a sob tore from my throat. Gray held me tighter against him. This was supposed to be a fun game. Why was I crying, clinging to him, and unable to stop?
“I don’t know.”
But I did know. Before Gray…before this moment, I’d always been afraid to acknowledge just how lonely I was. What wouldthat have said about my relationship? I never wanted to be alone, and I’d been so scared no one would want to marry me that I’d said yes to Carter the moment he’d asked. Wasn’t that the reason I tolerated every nasty thing he did, put up with anything?
“Gray.”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
Oh damn, I was already his.
“If we go out with your friends and they make jokes about my weight, what would you do?”
“In the first place, none of the people I call friends would ever make fun of you that way, and if they did, they’d no longer be friends.”
“But it’s not that simple, is it?”
“Itisthat simple.” Gray took my hand and brought it to his lips. “When you love someone, you cherish them and protect them. You stand up for them without hesitation.”
