“So you like got the job or…” His words trailed off as he waited for clarification.

“No, nothing like that. Sorry, I just got excited.” My voice wavered. “I still have more interviews to get through.”

“It’ll take a while?” Oliver confirmed, carefully brushing my cheek.

“Four to six weeks,” I clarified.

He paused, his eyes scanning my face. “You’ll be here at least another month?”

His words tugged at my heart. “I mean, there’s no guarantee I get this job. It’s so competitive and⁠—”

“At least another month,” he repeated, his eyes darkening.

“At least,” I said, feeling deflated it wasn’t longer. I should be glowing at the thought of landing that job, but leaving Key Ridge was the last thing I wanted to think about right now. “What about you?” I asked quietly. “The season is over and⁠—”

“I’ll be here if you are,” he said, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. The force of his gaze made me shiver, but as abruptly as it had arrived, it vanished. He threw on an easygoing smile again. “I’m going to hang around the lodge a little longer. Giles said there might be something for me to do. An old friend called me yesterday. He said I could work for him as a rafting guide this summer, but that doesn’t start until June.”

Even though I had every intention of getting this job and not being here come June, hearing him say it out loud hollowed out my chest. Like all of my energy was being removed all at once with an excavator.

“That’s awesome.” I tried to sound cheery, but the way Oliver dipped his chin to assess me told me I was likely failing.

“Is it?” he asked.

“Yep. I mean, it isn’t a permanent plan or anything, but maybe you’re meant to wander. Maybe that’s what this season of your life is for.”

I wished I could tell him to wander on over to New York, or wherever I’d end up, but I knew that was a ridiculous notion. We’d hardly started something. Plus, a guy like Oliver—all adventure and rugged and outdoorsy—being in a big city like New York? I couldn’t picture it at all.

“Permanent isn’t really my thing,” he joked.

I laughed off his comment as we headed back to the party.

Despite the fact that I should’ve been celebrating the news of landing another interview, all I could focus on were his words. They weren’t anything new, but twice tonight, he’d emphasized how he didn’t do commitment or permanence.

I knew it made absolutely zero sense, but I found myself starting to wish that I could be his exception.

NINETEEN

Oliver

“You’re thinking about staying?” my best friend, Harrison, asked through the phone.

“For a little while longer,” I said.

“You were all excited about having one hundred adventures or something ridiculous like that. You’re going to slow down after your first one?” His voice was gruff. I knew for a fact Harrison hated phone calls, but unfortunately for him, he was my best friend and I was a yapper. I couldn’t go more than a week without calling him.