“Sloan.” She wraps softly on the door of the bathroom, catching me off guard, pulling me from my trance. I’ve been staring in the bathroom mirror for I don’t know how long, trying to figure out who this hot mess is looking back at me. “Hey! Can I come in?”

“Don’t laugh,” I warn. “I’m telling you, it’s not good.”

She doesn’t even look at me, doesn’t even say a word, just scoops me in her arms and hugs me tighter than she’s ever hugged me before. She’s bawling, her tears sticky on my shoulder.

“Hey,” I whisper in her ear. “It’s going to be ok. I’m here now. I’m alright.”

“What happened?” she asks. “Did he hurt you?”

“The only crime he committed was one against fashion,” I giggle, showing her my butchered locks.

“Fuck,” she says, examining my head, her eyes wide.

“You look really pretty tonight, though,” I don’t know why, but what I need right now is just some casual conversation. Everything that happened in the last twenty-four hours was so heavy, so dark. I just want to pretend like I’m normal for a little bit. “Did you have a hot date?”

She walks over to the bathtub and begins to run water in it for me. She digs around in the cabinets, but all she can find is Gavin’s body wash. “This will have to do,” she says. She grabs the bottle and squirts a liberal dose of it into the running water.

I don’t care. I love that smell. I missed that smell.

“You want some privacy?” she asks.

“No,” I urge. “I would love it if you want to stay here with me. I mean, if you want to go back to the party, I completely understand.”

She helps me out of my bloody clothes and I slide into the tub while she sits on the toilet seat next to me. She has to be one of the best friends in the world.

“Oh!” she says, grabbing for her purse. She pulls out a joint and lights it up. “Might as well celebrate, huh?”

She passes it to me and I start coughing up a cloud of smoke before I can even exhale. We both start cracking up, laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation.

“So are you going to tell me what happened tonight or not?” she urges me.

“I promise I will, Ollie. But right now I just want to hang out. I don’t want this to be about my shit. I just want to sit here in the bathtub and smoke weed with my best friend like a normal human being.”

Neither one of us can stop laughing. It probably has something to do with the insanity of the situation, and maybe a little bit to do with the marijuana. Maybe it’s just because it feels so good to be back together again as best friends.

“Tell me about your night,” I say to her. “I feel like it’s always all about me. I want to talk about you.”

“Well, let’s see…” she says. “I think I’m in love, but I don’t know what to do.”

“You are? With who? Do I know who he is? Is he here?”

“It’s complicated,” she sighs. “But yes.”

“Is he hot? Did you bang him?”

“Yes and no.”

“Oh boy, so it’s serious, then?” I tease. “You waiting for marriage or what?”

Just then, there’s a knock on the door. My heart flutters a little bit, hoping it’s him, hoping that I can finally talk to him now that I’ve unwound a little bit.

Olive walks over and opens it a crack. “You want company?” she asks.

I dip down in the tub so that only my head is sticking out from under the water. “Sure.”

Gavin stands in the middle of the room, looking around with a goofy grin across his gorgeous face.

“What are you girls doing in here?”

“Just catching up,” Olive says. “I was just gonna go.”

“Oh, Ollie, you don’t have to,” I assure her.

“Listen, I love you, and I will be back tomorrow to help you figure out what we’re going to do about that hair of yours. I mean, if you want to, that is.” She gathers up her purse and plants a kiss on my forehead.

“Yes please,” I say. “Be careful! I love you!”

“I’m so glad you’re safe. And I’m sorry if…”

“Stop,” I say. “Go have fun.”

“Night, Gavin,” she says, navigating the narrow bathroom. “Do you want me to help clean up downstairs or anything before I leave?”

“We’ll worry about it tomorrow,” he tells her. “Thanks for everything.”

She winks at me and waves as she closes the door behind her. Finally, it’s just the two of us.

“Well, you’re probably exhausted,” I say, trying to figure out how to navigate this situation. “I’m sorry I ruined your party, though.” My heart is pounding. I’ve been dreaming about the day for so long, for a day that I could have him alone again, and even though the situation isn’t perfect by most people’s standards, it’s about as ideal as possible for me.

He kneels down next to the tub and presses his lips to mine, his tongue exploring my mouth as he cups my face in his hands. It all feels so familiar, yet so different. The way he tastes, the way his beard grazes my face, the neediness of his lips, I find myself moaning softly into his mouth before he pulls away and stares me over.

“You need to talk?” he asks, and I nearly melt into a puddle right there. His concern for me is genuine, not just some ploy to get in my pants.

“Relax,” I tell him. “Maybe someday. Right now I just want to get out of this disgusting bath water and be here with you.” I pull the plug on the drain, watching the earlier transgressions of the day swirl away as he helps me up and wraps me in a big soft towel. I linger in his arms. He’s being so gentle with me, like he’s afraid he’s going to break me or something if he touches me the wrong way, examining every inch of me, tracing his fingers over the scratches and bumps and bruises on my body.

“Gavin. I’m ok. I promise. Can we go to bed?” I grab his calloused hand in mine, squeezing it tight, and we walk down the hallway together. There’s loud music and laughter and screaming coming from outside, but it doesn’t bother me. It almost makes me feel better, safer, like I am surrounded by love and family.

He flicks on the bedroom light and groans. Passed out in the middle of the four-poster bed of my dreams is a beautiful girl, her giant boobs out for anyone to see.

“Sloan, it’s not what it looks like,” he says to me nervously.

“I don’t care if it is,” I say with a shrug. I march over to the bed and shake her shoulder until she comes to. She looks me over curiously. I don’t blame her, I’m sure I’m a sight to behold. “Honey, I don’t know who you are, but I’m gonna need you to get out of my bed.”

“Gavin!” she whines.

He picks up her shirt from the floor and tosses it to her. “You heard the lady.”

Obviously irritated, she storms off with a huff and puff, and for one second, I feel bad for her. Gavin is definitely a catch. Any girl who has a chance to get in bed with him is definitely lucky. I should know. I feel like I just won the lottery.

I crash down on the bed on my back and start laughing. The mattress is perfectly firm and the comforter feels like a cloud. If I didn’t want him so bad right now, I could pass out here in seconds flat.

“Sloan, I swear, I never touched that girl. I was with you most of the day. Then with the guys…” He’s rambling and it’s almost cute.

I pull him down on the bed with me and put my finger to his lips.

“I don’t know how to tell you that I don’t care. I don’t care about your past. I don’t care about my past. Clean slate, starting now.”

He climbs on top of me, straddling me and pressing his lips to my neck. “Is this ok?” he whispers in my ear.

“Yes,” I moan, pulling up his shirt. Those muscles make me shiver. I’ll never tire of running my hands over his arms and down his back. “I gotta ask you something though. What’s up with this bed?” The gorgeous bed frame made of rough logs has four posters and a sheer maroon swath running around the top like a canopy. It’s absolutely stunning, and definitely not very Gavin.

“Isn’t it what you wanted?” he asks, grinning at me, his dark eyes softening.

“Well yeah, but…”

“Hey, a guy can hope, right? Either way, it’s pretty fucking nice, huh?” He grinds on top of me, demonstrating the sturdiness of the bed, and I can’t help but laugh. “Let’s get rid of that towel, Sloan.” He rips the towel from my body in one solid swipe and gazes down at my naked body. “God, you’re gorgeous.”

As he works on my neck with his warm mouth, his beard tickling my shoulder, sending a shiver up my spine, I fumble with his belt. I want every square inch of his hot naked body all over me right now.

His ass is a masterpiece of solid muscle. His thighs thick and solid. And that massive dick pressing into my hip has me squirming in anticipation.

“You don’t know how badly I need you right now, Gavin,” I moan. He traces his big calloused hand down my stomach and grazes over my swollen clit with his fingertips, playing with my lower lips, coating them with my juices.

“I’d say pretty badly,” he breathes into my ear. “I can’t wait to feel your tight little pussy cum all over me, baby.”

He pins my arms up over my head and slides his hot throbbing dick into me. It’s been so long, and I’ve missed this so much. Getting pounded through the mattress by a real man. I scream in pleasure, gripping onto the wooden bed frame as he thrusts in and out of me slowly and progressively harder and harder.

My legs wrap around the backs of his muscular thighs and my lips reach for his, but even as he hooks his tongue around mine, I can’t contain my moans.

“I love when you scream in my mouth,” he says, pressing his lips back to mine. “And in my ear,” he says, cupping my breasts in his hands, pinching and twisting my hard nipples with a strong firmness before taking one gently between his teeth and tracing the tip with his tongue.

“Oh my God, Gavin,” I barely cry out in between screams.

“Are you going to cum for me, Sloan?”

His thrusts grow faster, harder, the whole weight of his perfect body pressing into mine. He’s rooting himself so deep inside me, every time he slams in, my clit feels like it’s going to explode. His moans are so primal. He’s a wild animal and I can’t hold on any longer.

“I’m cumming,” I groan, the powerful orgasm ripping through my body, taking my breath away, as I lock my legs around his, holding him inside me while my pussy walls spasm around his dick.

“You’re such a good girl, Sloan,” he growls in my ear. “You always cum so hard for me.” I feel his dick begin to twitch inside me and I clench down around it, enjoying the aftershocks of a perfect orgasm, milking him with my pussy for everything he has.

He presses his mouth to mine while filling me with his hot seed, pushing it deep inside me.

I wipe the sweat from his forehead with my hand and gaze into his eyes while we catch our breath.

He rolls off of me and I put my head on his chest, nestling in his arm. He smells so good, like manly musk and freshly mowed grass, and I just lay there with my eyes closed, soaking him all in.

“Are you hungry? Thirsty? You need anything?” he asks, hugging me tight.

“Just this.” I feel so peaceful, so safe and grounded, exactly where I need to be. I feel like I’m home. The beautiful farmhouse doesn’t hurt, but the man holding me in his arms is the real reason why. The cool breeze blowing through the windows reminds me that there’s still a housewarming party going on downstairs.

“Don’t you need to go down to your party? I don’t want to hold you back.”

“You’re nuts if you think I’m letting you out of my sight tonight,” he sighs. He hugs me closer to him and kisses the top of my head.

“Tonight?” I ask him.

“Don’t you have a road trip or something to go on tomorrow?”

I feel so conflicted. I thought we were picking things up where we left them. With everything we’d been through over the last day, I thought that we were pretty much established. “You really think I’m still doing that?”

“Sloan, if I had my way, I’d make you stay up on this mountain with me for the rest of our lives. I’d do whatever I could to make you the happiest woman alive. You would want for nothing. Just let me have this night, and you can do whatever you want in the morning.”

My heart flutters. The moonlight flooding the room does nothing to hide my tears. I’ve cried a lot over the past few months, but not like this. Not the way that only he can make me cry.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I insist. “As long as you’ll have me.”

“What about your career? You can’t just walk away from something you worked so hard for.”

“I can if I want to.” I say, tangling his fingers with mine. “I don’t care about hard work. Anyone can do hard work and get whatever ‘thing’ they want as a result, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be happy. Being with you is easy, Gavin. It’s not hard work and it makes me happier than anything I’ve ever imagined for myself.”

It’s true. From the moment we had been together, even with all the crazy ups, downs, and drama, every second we spent just the two of us was easy breezy bliss. Those seconds of peace made every little bit of external chaos worth it to me.

“I love that about us,” he says, tracing his hand over my heart. “I’ve known from the day I met you that loving you was going to be the easiest thing I could ever do. Trying to figure out my life without you has been hell. I just kept hoping that one day you’d show up at my doorstep and we could start all over again.”

“Instead, you showed up at my doorstep. And probably saved my life.”

“I just made a distraction. You did all the hard work.”

“Seeing you there today just made me want to fight harder to survive. You made me realize what I would be missing out on if he killed me. You’re a good man, Gavin. I’m sorry if you thought I ever doubted you.” I kiss him on the lips, lingering for a moment to enjoy the exact feeling that helped me find the strength to finish off Arthur.

“You know I love you, Sloan,” he whispers. It feels so good to hear it sincerely, knowing it’s not some sort of manipulation tactic. It’s real, and it’s pure, and I know it because I feel it too.

“You know I love you, too.” I sigh contentedly. Drifting off is easy, the warmth of his body better than any blanket I could imagine. This is my home. This is my life. I finally have a family. Fresh mountain air mixed with the smell of bonfire from below, a house full of love, and the rise and fall of his chest under my head, no more words needed for the day, I am complete.