I felt bright and peppy when I knocked on Kiera’s apartment door a little later. I felt even better when I saw her face. God, she was gorgeous. How could she not see what I saw? The sensualness, the perfection…every time I looked at her, she took my breath away.

“Mornin’,” I told her, stepping into her home. I was immediately wrapped in the smell of her, it was like a physical thing cocooning me, comforting me. I was really going to miss that.

Not wasting any of our precious time, I pulled her into me and began tasting her neck. I was going to miss this too. “Good morning, yourself,” she quietly laughed, closing her door.

Loving all of this—our perfect daily routine—made me sigh with longing. Why can’t I freeze time? Stay in this moment forever? “I’m going to miss taking you to school every day.” Just the thought made another wistful sound escape me. I was going to miss almost all of the rest of her time there. “You’ll nearly be graduating by the time I’m back.”

Kiera gave me a reassuring smile as she began stroking my cheek. “At least you’ll be back in time for the ceremony. You can watch me walk down the aisle.”

There were so many things about that sentence that I loved: the thought of returning to her, the thought of her being there waiting for me, the thought of her walking down an aisle…the aisle. Maybe. One day. That blissful vision filling my head, I confessed my future want, my future hope. “I’d love to watch you walk down the aisle.”

Her mouth popped open, like she wasn’t entirely sure what I’d meant by that, and I instantly regretted saying it. I didn’t want to push her, didn’t want to freak her out by moving too fast. And besides, she’d figure out exactly what I meant—what I wanted—on the day she found my letter. God, that letter…I should burn it when I get home.

Before Kiera could comment on my innuendo, maybe spoiling my fantasy by reminding me that we weren’t there yet—or just flat-out telling me no, she’d never consider marrying me—I looked over at something I’d noticed when I’d first walked in. A gift bag was sitting on her rickety card table. The perfect distraction.

Genuinely curious, I looked back at her. “What’s that?”

She giggled as she let go of me. “It’s for you. Sort of a going-away present.”

While her thoughtfulness was sweet, I didn’t need anything from her. I just needed her. And honestly, having people buy things for me was sort of…weird. It was something I’d never really gotten used to over the years. “I know money is tight for you. You didn’t have to get me anything.”