Here, she’s mine.

This is the best life will ever get and I know it. Winter Sommers is the best life will ever reward me with, and she’s fading.

“Agree to text the nerd when we get back to the table, Winter,” I pant into her lips, finally pulling myself out of her, and backing away when she stands on her own.

She laughs, grabbing some tissues on the counter next to us to clean herself up with. “I’ll call him later, Aleck. That will have to be a good enough answer for you. I’m not cruel, and he was kind.” She smooths her dress out. Her cheeks rosy, alive, and display a just-been-fucked glow. “But make no mistake about it, Aleck Rexford Fox, I am one hundred percent yours. Those are my terms. Take them or leave them.”

A pleased smile curls my lips as I button my jeans then run my fingers through my hair. “I’ll take them. I’ll take them all day, baby.”

TWENTY-FOUR

ALECK

Pulling my all-black Tesla Roadster into my usual parking spot at my parents’ beach house, I put it in park and turn the engine off. I look over at Winter in the passenger seat while her eyes take in the house. It’s one of many my family owns, but this one is my favorite. It’s one of our more modest properties, and the view is the best therapy on the planet.

The front of the house gives the illusion that it’s a small ranch-style home. But the main floor is just that, the main floor. There are three floors below street level that are carved into the rocks and earth it’s built on. The true view is seen from the backside where every floor is visible. But to see it from there, you’d have to be in the water.

Around eight hundred of the house’s square footage is given to the wrap-around deck. Which surprisingly, given its size, doesn’t obstruct the view of the white-water oceans. When I’ve come here in the past to get away from the city, I spend most of my time on the deck where the air is thick with sea mist and the waves crashing below lull even the most tortured mind to rest.

I remove my seatbelt and lean back, observing the way Winter takes in her surroundings. She removes her seatbelt and smooths her skirt, swiping her palms down her thighs more times than necessary. She dips her head so she can see the top of the house and whispers something under her breath I can’t decipher, then straightens her spine, letting out a deep, nervous breath.

I’ve seen many Winters, but nervous Winter is adorable. Adorable and mine.

“Winter…” I say quietly, making her jump as if she’s forgotten I was here. “There’s no reason to be nervous. They’re going to love you, and you’re going to love them. It’s just an evening with my parents. They’ll ask you some questions, answer them. I’ll be right next to you.”