Iwake up before Julie, which has be my new normal. The morning light filters through the massive windows of the Riverside cabin, and I can hear birds instead of photographers. The silence is perfect.

    Julie’s sprawled across me like a starfish, red hair everywhere, one leg thrown over mine. The tension from leaving town has almost melted away.

    I think about jumping fences, diving into Autumn’s car like criminals, Julieughing despite the chaos. She didn’t break. We didn’t break. The photographers tried, but we’re still here.

    Patterson left a few days ago, iming the “small-town witches” were trying to marry him off. He had to get back to New York—hockey season starts soon, and he’s the team captain. But not before ire read his palm onest time and told him about his love line. He’s been texting me about this nearly every day.

    My phone buzzes on the nightstand.

    Asher

    Media’s calming down. Give it another couple of days. But it could be a false rm.

    Nick

    Thanks for handling it.

    Asher

    That’s what I’m here for. How’s Julie?

    Nick

    Perfect.

    Asher

    You’re so doomed. Congrats!

    He’s not wrong. Every morning, I wake up more fucked than the day before. More attached, more certain this isn’t just temporary, more terrified of the November 1 deadline.

    We’ve been at Riverside for a week now, and I don’t ever want to leave. The past few days have been just us, this ridiculous cabin, and October. We’ve cooked together, used the hot tub every night, taken walks around the property without anyone watching, and made love under the moonlight. We’ve both needed this.

    My phone shows 5:47 a.m. Too early to be awake, but I can’t stop staring at her. The way the predawn light catches her skin, how peaceful she looks.

    Then I remember her list. Wake up to oral.

    She’s asleep this time, not pretending. This is my chance to check this one off properly.

    I carefully shift down the bed, moving slowly so I don’t wake her yet. She mumbles something in her sleep but doesn’t stir. I gently ease her legs apart, settling between them.

    She’s just wearing one of my T-shirts, nothing underneath. It’s something she’s gottenfortable with.

    I start with soft, barely there kisses on her inner thighs. She shifts slightly but doesn’t wake. I work my way between her legs, and that’s when she gasps awake.

    “Nick?” Her voice is thick with sleep and confusion. “Oh my God.”

    Her hands immediately tangle in my hair as I continue, not stopping now. She’s already wet, her body responding even before her mind catches up.

    “Best rm clock ever,” she moans, hips rocking against my mouth.

    I work her clit with my tongue, wanting to taste every inch of her, making sure she’s fully awake and aware of every sensation.

    When shees, it’s with a cry that echoes through the cabin.

    I move back up to kiss her deeply, both of us breathless and connected in this perfect morning moment.

    “Good morning to you, sweetheart,” I say.

    “That was …” She’s still panting. “So good. Bucket list item achieved.”

    “The list is sacred. What will we do when weplete them all?” I ask.

    “Add more.” She pulls me down for another kiss, tasting herself on my lips.

    My cock waits at her entrance. She’s so wet and warm.

    My phone buzzes.

    “Don’t you dare answer that,” Julie says.

    “Could be important,” I mutter against her mouth.

    She backs away, meeting my eyes. “Do you think it’s more important than this moment with me?”

    “Hell no.” I let it go to voicemail.

    “I can’t believe we’ve been here a week already,” she says as I slowly slide into her. She gasps. “Part of me doesn’t want to leave.”

    “Then we don’t.” I trace patterns on her skin. “We could stay here a few more days.”

    “Tempting,” she says, leaning up and then somehow moving me to my back before straddling me.

    I groan as she takes me in.

    Julie leans down and kisses me, and I’m lost in her as she rides me. Her breathing increases, along with her pace. I thrust upward, adding more friction, going as deep as possible. Our skin ps together, and we lose ourselves.

    “You were made for me,” I grunt, mming up into her.

    “I was,” she confesses, her mouth falling open.

    Julie’s head rolls on her neck as her titties bounce. I push up on my elbows, and she meets my mouth.

    “Damn, I love kissing you.”

    “It feels so good,” she moans. “So close.”

    I roll her over onto her back, and her thighs spread wide as I pump into her.

    “Yes, yes, yes.”

    Each muscle tenses, and when she groans out her release, I m harder, filling her full.

    I tuck her hair behind her ears as I kiss her. We don’t say anything, just settle in the moment,municating without whispering a word.

    My phone rings again, ripping us from our reality.

    “Oh, for fuck’s sake.” I bury my face in her neck, inhaling her hair.

    “You should answer it,” she says.

    I grab it, seeing my brother’s name across the screen.

    We break apart, slide out of bed, and move to the shower.

    “What, Asher?”

    “Good morning to you too. How’s the love nest?”

    “It’s not a?—”

    “Whatever. Listen, the TMZ story about your fence-jumping escape is working to your advantage. But I do have something to tell you.”

    I sit up, not knowing what’s being said. I promised myself I wouldn’t check and would just wait until Asher told me pertinent information. Ignoring the media is easy; it’s something I’ve been doing since I stopped ying hockey and began working at the firm.

    “What?”

    “Hockey’s Bad Boy and Barista’s Great Escape. Very romantic. Comments are supportive. But there is a blind item that was posted.”

    “Asher—”

    “I’m just saying, the narrative has shifted. You’re not the yboy ex-hockey star who will stick his dick in anyone anymore. You’re the protective billionaire, trying to live a private life, who’s protecting his small-town girlfriend from media harassment. The blind item says the barista is the woman you’ve had a crush on for the past year.”

    “What?” I ask.

    The phone stays silent for seconds.

    “Who did you tell about Juliest year?”

    I stare out the window, noticing the leaves changing on the mountain. “No one.”

    “Think about it, Nick. You had to have told someone that you’d met her when you visited Cozy Creek. I need to figure out who’s posting these blind items.”

    “Zane and Autumn knew,” I say, then hesitate. “And Dyson.”

    The silence draws on.

    “If it’s our older brother who’s feeding this beast, I’ll never forgive him.”

    “Asher,” I whisper, “don’t do this. Let it be.”

    “I’m going to find out who the fuck it is,” he says between gritted teeth.

    “What will it solve?” I ask.

    “I’ll know who continues to sell us out. Think about everything that’s been posted about Easton, Weston, me, Brody, and you. It’s not a coincidence. It’s someone in our inner circle.”

    “Who cares what’s posted? Maybe they’re helping? Every single person you mentioned has found their person, Ash. It’s nothing but harmless matchmaking.”

    “Harmless?” I can tell he’s upset. “Love has blinded you. I’ll solve this mystery if it’s thest thing I do. With or without your help.”

    “Asher.”

    He groans, and I can imagine him sitting at his desk in New York, staring out his office window toward Billie’s office since their buildings face each other. I smile, thinking about them.

    “Oh, and LadyLux wants an exclusive.”

    “Not happening,” I mutter.

    LadyLux is an anonymous pop culture blogger who posts about many people in my circle. She writes for LuxLeaks and is always fair and bnced.

    “She’s a good resource, and she’ll tell the truth. Think about it.”

    I shake my head. “I don’t care. I don’t want a bigger spotlight.”

    “It will stop many of the rumors that aren’t being addressed. Take care of them before the snowball bes an avnche,” he tells me.

    “Nope.”

    “You know exactly what you’re doing, so handle it however you see fit. Don’t mess this up.”

    “What part exactly?” I ask.

    “Julie. She’s the best thing that’s happened to you, and I know your thirty-day deadline is soon.”

    “She’s different,” I exin.

    “Yeah, but are you?” He hangs up before I can respond.

    I move to the bathroom and step into the shower with Jules.

    “Well?” she asks.

    “Everything is great. Asher’s in a mood.”

    “Oh. Sorry to hear that.” She smiles. “Can we really stay a little longer? I like our bubble here.”

    “A few more days in the grand scheme of things won’t matter,” I say as she takes her time washing me.

    Her touchforts and calms me as we stand under the warm water.

    The stream cascades over us. She starts at my chest, then moves up to my shoulders. She touches me like she’s memorizing every inch of me.

    “Turn around,” she says softly.

    I do, bracing my hands against the tiles as she washes my back. Her fingers work out knots I didn’t know I had, and I groan.

    “You’re so tense,” she whispers. “Everything is going to work out how it should.”

    “I know it will.” I nce at her over my shoulder, and our eyes meet. “It’s us against the world right now.”

    “A battle I will happily fight next to you.”

    She moves lower, taking her time, and it’s not sexual. It’s intimate. When she’s done, I turn to face her.

    I wash her hair first, massaging her scalp until she’s practically purring. The suds slide down her body, and I follow them with my hands. She watches me with those green eyes, and something unspoken streams between us.

    “Nick,” she whispers.

    “I know.”

    And I do. I feel it too. I feel this thing we’re both too scared to name.

    The steam surrounds us, the water still perfectly hot. It’s like the cabin knew we needed this.

    I pull her against me, and we just stand there, holding each other. Her arms wrap around my waist, her cheek pressed to my chest. I rest my chin on top of her head, breathing in the scent of the shampoo, mixed with steam.

    “I don’t want this to end,” she says so quietly that I almost miss it.

    “Which part?”

    “Any of it. All of it.”

    I tighten my hold on her, and we stay like that for who knows how long. The luxury of endless hot water lets us exist in this moment.

    When we finally step out, it’s not because we have to, but because we choose to face the day together.

    We dry each other off infortable silence, stealing nces and soft touches. Julie wraps herself in one of the plush robes while I pull on sweatpants.

    “Breakfast?” I ask.

    “I’ll never say no.”

    In the kitchen, I pull ingredients from the fridge—eggs, bacon, and fresh fruit we picked up from the farmers market earlier this week. Julie perches on the counter and doesn’t take her eyes from me.

    “I love watching you cook,” she says. “You get this concentrated look. It’s cute.”

    “Cute? Pfft. I’m going for sexy chef.”

    “That too.” She steals a strawberry from the bowl. “What’s on our agenda today?”

    “Whatever we want. That’s the beauty of hiding from the world.”

    “We can’t hide forever?” She yfully pouts.

    “No,” I tell her, cracking eggs into a bowl. “But we can today.”

    My phone buzzes on the counter. Julie nces at it.

    “What’s it say?” I ask her.

    “You trust me with your phone?”

    I chuckle. “I have nothing to hide from you. Go through it if you want.”

    “No way. I trust you too.”

    “Read it to me then,” I say as the bacon sizzles.

    “Patterson said ire texted him about his ‘romantic future,’ and he doesn’t know if she’s flirting or threatening him.”

    Iugh. “Hrious.”

    “Getting under people’s skin is her superpower.” Julie gets quiet. “I miss her. And the shop. And my normal life.”

    “We can go back?—”

    “Not yet.” She meets my eyes. “I’m not ready to share you with the world again.”

    “Julie—”

    “I know we only have three weeks left. I know this has a potential expiration date, and no decisions are to be made until then. But right now, it’s just us. Can we just … pretend for a few more days?”

    I abandon the eggs, moving to stand between her legs. “We don’t have to pretend anything.”

    “You know what I mean. I want to pretend there isn’t a shitstorm outside, waiting for us.”

    “Yeah, I do.” I cup her face.

    She kisses me, then pulls back. “I think the eggs are burning.”

    “Shit!” I rush to save breakfast while sheughs.

    I te everything and even make a few slices of buttered toast. We eat on the deck overlooking the mountains, wrapped in nkets to help with the October chill. Thendscape is painted in red, orange, and gold. It feels magical.

    “We should use the hot tub tonight,” Julie says. “Under the stars.”

    “Clothing optional?”

    “Clothing is highly discouraged,” she says.

    We look at the mountains, and I think about how different being here has been from my everyday life. No meetings, no pressure, no performance. Just Julie and me and this ridiculous cabin that’s be our perfect bubble.

    “Damn, I love spending October with you,” I say out loud, and she grins.