I woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside the window. It was almost midday, from how bright the sun was and the warmth in the air. I sat up and stretched lazily, glad that we were having some sunlight at last. I really wanted to go on a hike, and I didn’t want to waste a perfect opportunity
“Hold on,” I said, remembering something. I opened my backpack and grabbed the camera inside, and I pulled him close so I could take a picture. He glared at me, but I brushed it aside and wrapped my arm around his waist. “I thought we said no technology,” he said. “We said no phones,” I replied. “
I hated to say it, but I despised Rosa. I knew I was supposed to be nice to her, and I truly wanted to make her feel safe around us, especially if Ethan was right and her husband was an asshole. But it was so hard to put a smile on my face and continue to act like everything was fine when I could t
Suddenly, Rosa turned to me and asked, “How long have you two been together?”“Huh?” I muttered incoherently as I nearly lost my footing. “With Ethan,” she said. “How old is your relationship?”“We’ve been together for five months now,” I said. “Oh, that’s not even so long,” she said, waving her h
Getting to the summit was easy enough. Getting back down, however, was an entirely different story. By the time Ethan and I got back down to the cabin, we were both exhausted and sweating profusely. Walking down at an incline was so much harder than walking up. And my ankles were screaming by then
“That’s stupid,” I said. “Lots of men take bubble baths.”“And yet here you are with a man who only takes cold showers,” he said. “If I was a bubble bath guy, you wouldn’t even look at me twice.”I so wanted to argue with him about that, but then something else popped into my head. “Ethan?”“Hm?”“
From the sounds of it, Ethan wasn’t back yet. He would have woken me up if he was back. I turned off the music then drained the bathtub before I hopped into the shower to wash off the oils and get some feel back in my arms and legs. My palms had wrinkled up from being in the water for so long, and I
ETHANIt took a while before Liv finally calmed down and fell asleep in the living room. I sat beside her the entire time, stroking her hair and telling her the most random stories until her breathing changed and she calmed down enough to sleep off. That was when I went back outside to the truck an
“Forget them,” he said. “We’ll get you some new ones once we’re out of the country.”“Chris, listen to me,” I said. “Please, just let me do this. I won’t take long. You can watch me the entire time.”He stared at me with his eyes narrowed, clearly trying to figure out what I was up to. To be honest,
I saw the moment the gun went off, with the brief flash at the end of the barrel, while I threw myself entirely onto Chris' arm in an attempt to shove him out of the way. But the bullet had been shot, and I turned in horror to find Ethan falling to the ground. And in the moment, I felt like the worl
Oh, God!"Chris," I whispered, my voice barely above a whisper, “what happened to you?"He flinched like I'd slapped him, and his eyes darted down to the marks. "D-don't l-l-look at that,” he said, stammering as he stepped away from me, keeping the gun leveled at my head. "What happened to you, Chr
I'd never felt more fear in my entire life than I did staring down the barrel of a gun, with Chris standing on the other end. To say that I was terrified would have been the understatement of the century. I froze completely, like a deer caught in headlights. And it was as if my brain had switched of
"I'll always worry about you," he said. "It doesn't matter what the circumstances are.""That's so sweet," I said. "Now run along and let me finish packing up here."He looked like he wanted to argue, but I stared him down adamantly until he gave up and shook his head, accepting his own defeat and t
"Please tell me you're joking," I said, staring at his canvas in disbelief. "If you tilt your head slightly to the side, it's not so bad," he replied. "Seriously, I think it's even flattering.""Ethan, is this really how you see me?" I asked. "All you've done is draw a slim brunette with huge tits
I stood in front of my canvas and took a deep breath. The air smelled like damp earth and pine needles, like the kind of crispyness that made your lungs feel cleaner. There were a few birds chirping in the trees, and the forest whispered around us as I stared at the blank canvas and just appreciated
By the time we finished having breakfast, the sun had already broken through the trees, and it was starting to feel like early spring. I stood in the kitchen doorway with my arms crossed and eyes squinting into the light as I stared outside at the lake. It was a beautiful day, my stomach was full, I
“Fuck!” he groaned, stepping away from me slowly and chuckling to himself. “What?” I asked. “Nothing,” he replied, before he leaned forward and kissed me again. “I just love you so freaking much.”“I love you too,” I replied. We stayed like that for a while, just standing under the water with no