“If that were the case, then our patrons don’t have very good taste. Either that, or I’ll just have to take you out into the woods where I’m the only one that gets to hear you.”
I shudder and press my forehead into his chest. He pulls me even closer. We’re locked together, and I don’t want to let go. The anxiety in my chest now isn’t because of the fake engagement. It’s the idea that—
No. That thought isn’t going to happen. I cut it off before it fully forms. This is going to be hard enough.
“You up for all that? The pretending and the break-up and everything?”
“Of course,” Hudson says with a smile, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “After all, it was my idea.”
8
Hudson
“So,” Mr. O’Neill says, “what do you do here at Blue Mountain?”
At least about this, I don’t have to lie. We’re on safe ground. “I’m the Activities Director. I’m in charge of planning all the excursions and any events that we put together. I’m also on the lookout for anything that we can add. I split the actual leading of the excursions and classes with Leo. Except archery. That’s all Asher.”
“And you own all this?”
I smile. “We do. Made the last payment about a month ago. It’s ours outright now. A few square miles on this side of the river, so we actually have a lot more property than we’re using at the moment. On the other side of the river is all national forest, but we have a special license with the state for everything we do out there.”
Erin’s mother is looking at me. Assessing. “It’s very impressive.”
“Thank you.”
“What are your future plans for this place?”
I clear my throat and take a drink of water. It’s a little bit of an interrogation, but given the way that we surprised them this morning, they definitely have the right. “We’re finally to a place where we’re happy with the number of excursions that we have, and the guest capacity. Right now we’re going to hold steady and ease into this kind of schedule. Obviously the warmer months are our busiest seasons. We’ve done really well, and we don’t want to grow too big too quickly.
“But eventually we’d like to build larger guest cabins further out on the property for larger groups and possibly hire full-time staff so that the three of us don’t have to be here all year round.”
Mr. O’Neill nods. “Sounds like you’ve got a decent business plan.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
Erin is very quiet beside me. I know that she doesn’t want to say anything that’s going to contradict our story, and she’s still a little dazed from everything that happened.
“And how did you guys meet?”
This one I’ve definitely got. “Erin came up as a part of a class trip when we first got the horses over the summer. And we just…hit it off.”
Erin smiles at me then. I definitely don’t deserve the way that she’s looking at me, given that I’m the one that got us into this mess in the first place. But she’s still nervous. So I take her hand. Throughout breakfast, I’ve been touching her. Partially because I know that it will help sell the story to her parents. And partly because I want to.
I can’t help myself.
After last night and this morning…there’s no way to explain it. But I’ve never felt anything like it. Not to mention that this is probably the most words I’ve said at once in more than a year. I never used to be so quiet, but as things changed and I withdrew, I just spoke less and less.
But I didn’t realize that until now.
Running my thumb over the back of Erin’s hand, I realize that I’m still staring at her. Earlier, I lied. I know that I should have told her parents that we were just dating. It would have been much easier to get out of. But the real truth is that for whatever reason, saying that we were dating didn’t even cross my mind.
The idea of being engaged just popped into my head, and it felt so right that I couldn’t stop it coming out of my mouth. There’s no explanation for it either, because marriage hasn’t been on my mind. Or anything like it. I haven’t even been looking for a relationship.
I’ve had the occasional one-night stand for fun, but that’s all it was. Fun.
What happened with Erin didn’t just feel like fun. It felt like something indescribable and is also mildly terrifying because of that. But I’m in it. I meant what I said. I’m going to see it through.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you,” Erin says softly. “It’s just…I wanted it to be just mine for a while.”
Her mom smiles. “I understand.
“Thanks.”
“Okay folks,” Leo says, poking his head into the room. “If you’re with me for rafting, start heading over to the launch site so we can go over safety protocols and get you guys into vests.”
The whole group starts to break up, and I look at Erin. “You guys are all scheduled for that, right?”
“Right,” she says. She doesn’t look panicked, but she still looks nervous. Should I get her out of it? “How long are the rafting trips?”
“A few hours.”
Erin smiles. “Then I’ll be back soon enough, I guess.”
I lean in and kiss her gently. The whole time I’m telling myself that it’s for her parents sitting across from me. But it’s not. It’s because I want to taste the strawberry jam that she put on her pancakes and feel the way her breath catches when our lips meet. Kissing her is like waking up. A hit of pure oxygen to my lungs.
“See you later,” I say with a grin, fully aware of her parents staring at us from across the table. Erin’s cheeks are bright red, and she practically flees the table, the senior O’Neills following after I smile at them. They don’t know what to do with themselves, and
