Once Carson leaves for work, I’m left alone in his house. I look around the place, and for a second it occurs to me that there’s more money in art and other stuff in this place than I’ve seen in my entire life. Leaving me alone here like this is a seriously trusting move on his part.

I want to live up to that trust. And it says a lot about the kind of man he is, and how he feels about me, that he’s leaving me here alone. But I need to explore this house. I’ve been itching to look around, and now’s the time.

I get up and pad softly into the kitchen. I go through the drawers, familiarize myself with the layout, before going back down the hallway. There’s a bathroom, two bedrooms, the bedroom I’m sleeping in, and a master bedroom back there. I pause at his door before slowly pushing it open.

I know this is maybe a little bit of a violation but I can’t help it. I poke my head in and am surprised at how nice it is, although I shouldn’t be. It’s similar to my own room but more modern and surprisingly clean.

I pull back out of his room, not letting myself go all the way in, and head back to the staircase. The stairs are bare wood covered in a clear gloss and they’re a bit cold under my feet as I head upstairs.

On the right is an open loft area with another couch, a cabinet with a record player on top, and an enormous bookshelf covered in records and books. I take a second to look at all of his things before heading back down the hallway. In the back there’s another bedroom, another bathroom, and an exercise room. Finally, I step inside of his office.

It looks about like what you’d expect. A large monitor on a sleek and modern-looking desk. The whole place looks like it was designed by Ikea, except the furniture all looks completely custom. I step into the room and glance at all the books on the bookshelves, more books than I’ve ever seen in a person’s home before.

There are a few pictures on his desk and I can’t help but pick them up and take a look. They’re of his family, or at least I assume they’re his family since everyone looks alike. They’re all old pictures from his childhood, which surprises me. He doesn’t seem to love his family or feel very close to them, and yet here are a bunch of pictures of them in his private study.

That says a lot about him. I think his past is important to him, especially his childhood. Things probably got harder as he got older, since he had to take on more responsibility. Maybe his father was nicer to him back then and he was closer to his brother before they got competitive about the business. His mother looks so young and beautiful, and I’m reminded that he hasn’t said much about her yet, if anything at all.

I put the picture down and head back downstairs. Just as I get to the bottom of the landing, there’s a knock at the front door. I pause, standing there like a scared deer, before creeping up to the door and looking out the peephole.

It’s a delivery man. I open the door.

“How you doing?” he asks.

“Good,” I say.

He hands me a package. It’s not too heavy. “Have a good one,” he says before leaving.

“You too,” I say and look down at the box in my hands.

I’m surprised to see that it has my name on it. I slowly take it inside and shut the door behind me, wondering what the heck this is and how Carson got it up here in this snow. I take it into the living room and open it up, then laugh.

It’s a pair of snow boots. I take them out and sure enough, they fit.

I shake my head, grinning. Carson is an impressive man. I can’t deny that. How he got these boots to me so quickly is a mystery, but I’m guessing it cost him a lot of money.

“Well,” I say out loud to myself, “better put these to good use.” I head into the bedroom, grab my new coat, put on a new pair of gloves, a scarf, and a hat, and finally head outside through the garage.

The land slopes down toward Juneau in front of the house. There’s a driveway that wraps around it and it’s mostly a field for maybe the length of a football field before the forest starts up again. There’s a path that heads into the trees behind the house, and I decide to follow that.

As I walk, I spot a stump with a more beat-up looking axe sticking out of it, which makes me smile. That’s probably where he splits wood, and apparently he has another axe. The forest is so quiet and it’s surprisingly nice. The snow stopped and the wind died down, so it’s comfortable walking around outside.

The path slowly leads uphill away from the house, so I just keep following it. There’s nothing around except trees and more trees. I can hear birds calling, but otherwise, I’m incredibly alone.

I don’t think I’ve ever been this alone before. Even in the city late at night, there’s someone nearby. But out here, I feel like I could scream and nobody would hear me.

It’s absolutely beautiful. I’m struck breathless at the sheer incredibly beauty of what I’m looking at. I’ve never been in a forest like this before, let alone walked around on the paths. And I’m living with the man that owns all of this.

I think I’m starting to get it. I understand why he lives out here secluded like this, away from the city. It’s beautiful, but there’s more to it than that. I feel like I can actually think out here. There’s nothing driving me to do the next thing, to buy some new product, to get on the latest social media site. Out here I can just walk and be alone, and that’s perfectly fine.

I walk for a while. I’m not sure how long. But eventually the path forks right and leads along a little flat area. The mountain continues up, but the path skirts along the flat spot. Through a clearing of trees, I spot a little bench and I walk up to it.

I’m amazed at what I see. The bench is in a small clearing near the edge of a cliff. Down below me, much farther than I would have guessed, I can see Carson’s house. And below that is Juneau, spread out against the water.

I brush off the bench and then sit down, looking out into the distance.

I feel like I’m at the height of something. I don’t mean literally at the top of a mountain, which clearly is what I am, but something else, something more abstract. I ran away from home and nearly died in the freezing cold that night, but now I’m here, warm in my new clothes, looking out over the city I barely know. And it’s all thanks to him. It’s all thanks to Carson.

I sit there for a while, though I’m not sure how long. I’ve probably been outside for a few hours now, and I’m finally starting to get cold, so I start back down the path toward the house.

I feel good. I feel damn good for the first time in a long time. And as I get closer to the house, I hear a car pull up the drive and Carson’s garage door open.

Without thinking, I start running. I run as fast as I can toward the house, wanting to see him as soon as I possibly can. I come around the bend and spot him getting out of his truck.

“Carson!” I call out.

He looks up and smiles. I slow down to a walk as he comes out toward me, a confused grin on his face.

“What are you running from?”

“Nothing,” I say breathless. “I just wanted to catch you before you went in.”

“You got the boots,” he says, looking down.

I nod. “They’re perfect.”

“Good. I’m glad.”

“Carson—“

“Yeah?” He steps toward me, head cocked.

“I’ll do it,” I say. “I mean, I want to do it. I want to stay here. And let you take care of me.”

His grin gets bigger as he gets closer to me. “I want to hear you say the words first.”

“Say what words?” I ask, looking down.

He stops in front of me and tips my chin up, making me look him in the eyes. “Say you want me to be your daddy.”

“I want it,” I whisper.

“Say it,” he commands. Excitement floods through my body.

“I want you to be my daddy.”

“Good girl.”

And then he kisses me. His lips feel perfect against mine, pressed into a soft kiss as his tongue softly slides against mine. I wrap my arms around his neck and press myself closer to him. I feel his hands on my hips as he kisses me, deep and full.

I feel dizzy when we finally break apart. He looks down at me with a big smile on his face.

“Now I have some things for you,” he says.

“More?” I ask, a little breathless still.

“There’s much more.” He turns away and takes my hand. “Come on, let me show you.”

I follow him, heart beating fast, afraid of what’s happening but excited to let it happen.