He turned it around, and his eyes went wide, instantly recognizing us etched into the wood. We were smiling in the photo, the flowers from the botanical gardens behind us and also etched into the wood with incredible detail, some of them even colored in to add an extra layer of depth. There were vines underneath the photo that grew together to spell out the date we had become official.

I heard sniffling and was surprised to see Jake wiping away a tear, overcome by the surprise. I rubbed the spot between his shoulders, and he started to tear up even more.

“This is beautiful, Noah.”

“I wanted something we could have forever. That’s the first photo we took together, and that’s the date we became boyfriends.”

“It’s—I love it. So much.”

He gave me another kiss, this one nearly knocking me over onto the bed. When we separated, I could see the tears welling up so much that more spilled over, one of them falling down onto the wood and darkening it. My own heart swelled with emotion. I hadn’t expected this kind of reaction from Jake, who was normally much more stoic and less prone to crying than I was. It melted me. Made me fall even harder for this man, something I thought shouldn’t have been impossible. I never wanted to let him go, no matter what was happening outside of our perfect little bubble.

He set the etched wood gently on the dresser and turned, kissing me again, and again and again, until we fell back onto the bed laughing into each other’s mouths, hands roaming and my shorts unzipping. “How much time do you think we have before everyone gets suspicious?” Jake asked, already kissing his way down my belly.

“About ten minutes, give or take.”

“Should be enough time to show how thankful I am for you,” he said, rubbing his face on my shorts before pulling them off with his teeth, smiling up at me the entire time.

Pfft. With how sexy Jake was, I figured we’d only need five minutes for him to show me how grateful he was.

And I was right.

24. Jake Perez

24

JAKE PEREZ

The cabin was like a labyrinth. There were five bedrooms with huge bathrooms and two kitchens. There was one living room at the front of the cabin and another toward the back, along with a neon-bright arcade in the basement and a couple of pool tables. There was a hot tub on the wraparound deck and another lounge area full of comfortable pillows and an outdoor couch that was more comfortable than the one I had in my house. Next to one of the bedrooms was a wall-to-wall library full of all different kinds of books, with an arching window that was flanked by two maroon armchairs.

Yvette wasn’t the only one who would need to be dragged out of here.