As winter turned into spring and spring started to make way for summer, Alexa and I did nothing but grow closer and closer to one another. By the time June rolled around, we’d been together officially for just about six months.

“You know, June is my anniversary at work, right?” she asked me.

“No, I didn’t know that. Are they gonna throw you a party or something?”

“Yeah, right. Those cheapskates? I’d be surprised if the owners threw birthday parties for their own kids,” she joked. “I do have some good news, though.”

“What’s that?”

“When my work anniversary gets here, I’ll qualify for the top-tier vacation schedule.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means my vacation days will be maxed. I’ll have a total of twenty vacation days to use for the year on top of my personal days.”

“That’s awesome. Congratulations.”

“Thanks! I thought that we should probably put the vacation days to good use. We should get out of here and go do something.”

The two of us discussed at length what kinds of things we’d like to do. We didn’t have a particular idea in mind, but we both liked a lot of the same things. We both loved nature and wanted to be outdoors. After some research, we found some cabins in Ely that looked like they’d be good to spend some time at.

Her store was going through inventory and other important things so it was going to be a few weeks before she could use any of her time off but that gave us a little bit of time to plan.

Neither of us had a ton of extra money, but when we put it together, we were able to rent a cabin for the summer. It wouldn’t be ours all summer, we had no way to be able to afford that.

Instead, the rental was a shared cabin. We’d have access to it on the first week of every month.

Even though we both loved the outdoors, neither of us had ever rented a cabin before. Hell, I’d never even been camping.

Foster homes don’t really take you out to do a lot of things like that. Since it was going to be a new experience for us, we were both very excited. The cabin itself was very secluded. It was located deep in the woods. There were neighbors for miles.

There was also no television and no cell phone reception. It would just be Alexa and me with no interruptions and no distractions. That was what I liked the most about it.

No matter how much time I spent with her, I always wanted more. It never seemed like I was able to get enough of her. The last thing I wanted to do was smother her, but at the same time, I hated every second we were apart.

I never said anything when Alexa would spend the day shopping with Kim or when she wanted to set up double dates with her friends. I didn’t want to be the kind of guy who complained about stuff like that, even though I didn’t like to share her.

I wanted to have her all to myself. She was my girl, and I valued the time we spent together.

Alexa got to see a side of me that I kept hidden from the outside world. She got to see a side of me that I never let anyone else see, not even Curtis.

Over the months that we’d been together, I found myself opening up to her more than I ever imagined I would. I opened up about some parts of my past, but not about anything significant.

There were still some things I wasn’t comfortable talking about.

I stuck to partial truths as opposed to outright lies. I gave bits and pieces of my history that actually happened, but I either gave them to her out of context, or I completely left out the more painful parts.

Even though I didn’t want her to know how shitty my life had been, I hated having to lie to her. I wanted to be able to tell her about all the things that had happened to me as well as what I’d done and where I’d been for five years before I met her. It drove me insane to have to lie to her on a daily basis but what else was I supposed to do?

I had everything that I wanted. I had the love of my dream girl. I had a good job that paid the bills. Even though it wasn’t the best, I had a place of my own. I was happy for the first time in my life, and I wasn’t going to fuck it all up by telling Alexa about a past that I wished I could forget.

What would be the point of saying anything?

The past is over, and it’s best to leave it in the rearview mirror. The things that had happened to me. The things that I’d done. They were all over. There was no going back and changing anything so why would it make sense to dwell on them. I was focused on the future, and to me, that future was all about Alexa and me.

That girl was my life. If I hadn’t met her, I had no clue where I’d be. I had no idea who’d I’d be. Just thinking about that scared me and I didn’t want to find out the answers to those questions.

* * *

I was waiting impatiently inside of Alexa’s apartment, waiting for her to come home from work. I paced back and forth and time seemed to move incredibly slowly.

It was something I seemed to do a lot, primarily when I was either nervous or excited. I couldn’t sit still. I needed to keep moving. I was definitely excited.

While I waited, I packed a bag for each of us so we were ready to leave for our week in the cabin. I didn’t have to pack a whole lot. I packed some clothes, although I didn’t plan on either one of us wearing them all that often.

In my mind, ahead of us was a week full of sex with food in between. Alexa had mentioned that she wouldn’t mind going on a hike since we’d be out in the woods. It was something I’d never done, and it sounded cool so I agreed.

I made sure we both had the right clothes for that adventure. As I was zipping up my duffel bag, I heard the front door closing. My girl was finally there.

“Nick? Are you here?” she yelled out from the living room.

“Yeah, I’m in the bedroom,” I replied.