by Kaitlyn Hoyt
“I’m sorry about your mom, Chris.” He nods and walks back into the entertainment room, patting Colton’s shoulder as he passes. Colton starts walking toward me. Instead of letting him walk the whole way, I meet him halfway. Wrapping my arms around his waist, I envelope myself in his familiar scent.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize there was a scene like that in the movie.” I shake my head and look up at him.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. I don’t know what came over me,” I tell him.
“Come on,” he says as he pulls me down the hallway.
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
“Close your eyes,” Colton tells me as we near the back of the house. I look up at him. He’s serious. I close my eyes and wait for his word. I hear the sound of a door opening and the cool night air brushes against my face.
“We’re going outside?” I ask.
“Keep your eyes closed.”
I do as I’m told. “This reminds me of the forest. Do you remember that? The bench?”
“Of course I remember that, Ry,” he says—his voice low and husky. A warm feeling shoots through my body at his tone. Colton chuckles at my response and continues pulling me forward. “Watch out, there are two steps coming up.”
Colton slows down and helps me down the stairs. “Can I open my eyes now?”
“Be patient, Ry. We’re getting close,” he tells me. I groan, but let him pull me forward. Where could he be taking me? I hear the sound of water running somewhere close by. Are we near a lake? I’m surrounded by the sound of crickets chirping and wind rustling the leaves of the trees. The ground below me is uneven. It feels like I’m walking on a stone or brick path. I stumble forward on a loose rock and collide into Colton’s chest. “You’re so graceful,” he laughs as he continues pulling me forward.
“Hey, you can’t say anything until you’re the one walking blindly on an uneven path,” I mumble. Colton stops moving, and I walk into his chest again. He lets go of my hands and steadies me. “Can I open my eyes now?” I ask.
I arch my head up toward him and wait for his response, but it never comes. Instead, I feel his lips brush against mine. Colton’s arms wrap around my waist and he slowly pulls me closer. I press myself into his body and wait for him to kiss me. His breath hits my cheeks as he lingers in front of me. Oh, just kiss me already.
Colton gently presses his lips to mine, kissing me slowly. I melt into him. My knees feel weak, my heart rate increases, and I can’t think straight. Colton means so much to me that it scares me sometimes. I’m slowly pushing my insecurities back everyday—telling myself that I am good enough for him. This perfect man kissing me is my soulmate. We’re destined for each other. It’s taken me longer to realize it, but I’m beginning to see it now. Colton pulls back and rests his forehead against mine. “You can open your eyes now,” he whispers.
I slowly open my eyes and look up at Colton, getting lost in his green gaze. He’s watching me, waiting for my reaction. Seeing twinkling lights out of the corner of my eye, I turn to the right. My mouth falls open as I look at the scene around me.
I’m standing in the middle of a large garden. Tall flowering plants surround me. A small fountain is located in front of me with water cascading over small ornamental stone angels, leading into a koi pond with lights on the bottom of it lighting up the fish and giving the angels an ethereal glow. Potted plants, shrubs, and ferns cover everything in sight. A stone path leads further into the garden in front of me. Small LED lights line the path showing the way. The twinkling lights around me are fireflies lighting the night sky. Lights wrap up the bases of all the large trees in the yard and get lost under the mass of leaves.
Colton reaches over and gently closes my mouth. I draw my eyes from the garden and look up at him. Hugging him to me, I say, “It’s so beautiful. Thank you for showing it to me.” Colton starts walking backward. I let go of my grip around his waist and follow him. He sits down on a cushioned swing and pulls me beside him.
“While you’ve been working with Colin, Tom, David, and I have been coming down here to clean up the garden and add all the lights. The Howicks helped finish everything up tonight while we were upstairs.”
“Why would you do that? We’re not staying here for much longer…”
“Because I wanted to see that look on your face—that surprised, completely awed, totally beautiful look.” I feel a blush rising on my cheeks from his compliment. “And then the blush that accompanied me telling you that,” he laughs.
I lean in his side and continue to admire the scenery around me. “Thank you, Colton.”
“There’s no need to thank me. You’ve been working really hard lately. You deserve a little break,” he tells me.
I rest my head on his chest and curl my knees up. My eyes follow a firefly in front of me. I reach out and catch it. Opening my fist, I watch as it crawls across my fingers, choosing not to immediately fly away. It’s little legs brush against my skin as it moves onto the back of my hand. I feel Colton’s eyes on me the entire time. Tearing my gaze away from the little bug, I look up at him.
“What?” I ask him when he continues to watch me. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the firefly fly off, but I don’t look away from Colton. He shakes his head and looks over toward the fountain. A small smile forms as he stares ahead. “What are you thinking about?”
“Us,” he answers. “The future.”
“What about it?”
“I don’t know. Nothing. Everything. I think about it all. What I want to happen…how I hope things play out.”
“What do you want to happen?” I ask him. Colton tears his eyes from the fountain and looks down at me. He brushes a strand of hair away from my face and leans back on the swing. Using his legs, he gently starts moving it back and forth.
“I want us to get through all of this alive,” he starts. I watch him as he speaks. He’s trying to keep a smile at bay. “I want to wake up to you in the morning and not worry about whether or not you were attacked in your sleep. I want to watch you open your eyes and look over at me and whisper a good morning as you sit up and stretch and then try to tame your unruly hair.” He laughs and turns toward me. “I love your crazy hair,” he says as he grabs a curl and twirls it around his finger.
“I want to get down on one knee and propose to you and watch you say yes as tears stream down your face,” I scoff at the tears comment even though I know it’ll probably happen. “I want to watch you walk down the aisle in a ridiculous white dress and listen to you say I do. I want to go on a honeymoon and finally be able to love you as my wife,” he says.
“You want to wait until our wedding night?” I ask.
“Call me traditional,” he tells me as he tightens his arm around me. I lean back against his chest and listen to the rest of his vision. “I know that you’ve always wanted to wait until your wedding night as well,” he whispers. It’s true. I’m pretty old fashioned when it comes to relationships. “I want to buy a small house on a secluded beach, that’s also surrounded by trees. A couple of years after that, I want to start a family. Two kids. Little Coltons or Ryannes running around. It doesn’t matter as long as they’re healthy.
“I want to watch them grow up and teach them about magic. Help train them. I want to go to all the sports events, school plays, award ceremonies, everything. I want to grow up with you and watch our children grow as well. I want to watch them walk across the stage and receive their diploma and then give my little girl off on her wedding day.
“Most importantly though, I want to make you happy. I want to be the reason why you smile in the morning and have sweet dreams at night. I want to make you laugh until you cry. If I can do that, I don’t care about the other stuff. You’re my life now Ryanne and if I’m with you, I’ll be happy.”
“You already make me happy, Colton. I’d probably be going insane right about now if it weren’t for you. You’re my anchor remember?” Colton removes his arm from my shoulder and roll
s up the sleeve on his tight black shirt. I grab his wrist when I see the design wrapping around it.
“You got a tattoo?” I ask him.
“I told you you’ve been training a lot,” he says. I lightly trace the design around his wrist.
“When did you get it?”
“Two days ago,” he answers. I look up at him surprised. He’s had this for two days and I haven’t noticed. How did I not see it during the training sessions? He wore a tank top then. “You’re not the most observant person, Ryanne.”
“Apparently not,” I mumble. I lightly kiss the anchor and put his arm back around my shoulder. Leaning into him, I listen to all the sounds around me. It’s obviously late, but I don’t know what time it is specifically. I look up at the stars around me. I could sit outside all night and watch the stars. There’s something so amazing about the sky. The world is so vast and each individual is so small. We’re like a constellation. On our own, we’re not that important. We become important when we work together to create a larger picture—the constellation.
I look toward Colton again. “I want all of that too.” He looks at me confused, so I explain further. “That life you talked about…I want all of that too. I want to be your wife and I want to be a mom…someday…in the very far future,” I say with a laugh.
The love in his eyes spurs me on, so I continue. “Before I met you, Colton, I had no confidence or self-esteem. I thought that no one would ever want me, and I’d go through life alone.” Colton opens to his mouth, but I place a finger on his lips. “Wait a minute, let me finish. Meeting you changed all that. Whenever you look at me, I start to feel beautiful. Your gaze makes my knees go weak and my heart skip a beat.” I smile up at him. “I get my strength from your faith in me. You make me feel wanted and you have no idea how good that feels. I’ve never had many friends and no guy ever seemed interested in me. Now, I have you—my best friend and soulmate.
“I want to wake up every morning in your arms. I love opening my eyes and looking straight into your green ones and want to do that for the rest of my life. I do want to wear a stupid big white dress and walk down the aisle toward you. I want to be able to call you my husband. I want to call myself Mrs. Colton Wagner.
“I don’t want to sound clingy or anything, but I don’t see a future for me if you’re not in it, Colton. Don’t do anything to get yourself killed, mister. I’ll be very mad at you and I’ll find a way to bring you back just so I can tell you how angry at you I am,” I poke him in the chest. Colton laughs and kisses my temple.
“The same goes for you, little one.”
I groan and lean back against him. “Not you too.”
“Sorry, I think it’s cute.”
“That’s what every girl wants to hear.”
Colton grabs my chin and turns me toward him. “You’re more than just cute, babe.”
I smile and lean toward him. “Really?”
He kisses my forehead. “Mhmmm.” He kisses the top of my nose. I let out a shaky breath as he whispers, “I think you’re stubborn.” I attempt to laugh, but it comes out more breathy than I wanted. “You’re oblivious.” He kisses my cheek. I tilt my head back as he trails kisses across my jaw. “You’re funny. Smart. Amazing. Beautiful. Quirky.”
“Quirky?” I whisper as he moves toward my ear.
“Mhmmm,” his lips brush against my earlobe. I lean closer to him. “And I think you’re incredibly sexy without even trying to be.” He gently nips at my ear. I groan and melt into him. “I also think that sound is incredibly sexy.”
“Colton.”
“Yes?” he says as he kisses the spot behind me ear that drives me crazy.
“Kiss me,” I demand.
“You’re also impatient,” he tells me as he moves his lips to mine. I sigh and lean into him. He slowly trails his hand from my shoulder down to the small of my back. His other hand rests on my hip and he gently scoots me closer to him. The kiss is gentler than our previous ones but filled with more love. This will be another one of those moments in our relationship that I’ll always remember.
I run my hands through Colton’s silky hair and stop at the base of his neck and press him closer to me. He tries to pull back, but I tighten my grip on him. He chuckles against my lips, but kisses me again. “You’re also a good kisser,” he mumbles to me.
“You’re…eh,” I sarcastically tell him. He laughs and starts tickling me. I gasp and attempt to scoot away from him, but he holds me in place. “Fine. Fine. You’re the best kisser I’ve ever kissed.” He stops tickling me, but keeps one hand on my waist. The other wraps around my shoulder again as he pulls me back against him. “Granted, you’re literally the only guy I’ve ever kissed…”
“I’m glad,” he whispers to me.
“Would you be jealous if I had kissed anyone else?” I ask him.
“I don’t want to think about that,” he says.
I rest my head on his shoulder again and look back out at the garden. “I’m glad you were my first kiss, Colton.”
“Me too, Ry.”
Chapter Eleven
Colton
Something wet falls on my cheek. With my eyes closed, I reach up and wipe it away. Another droplet falls on my forehead. Opening my eyes, I brush the water off. I’m outside? I can’t tell what time it is because the sky is covered with dark clouds from an impending storm. I look around me and see Ryanne sleeping with her head in my lap with her legs stretched lengthwise against the swing. Someone came outside last night and placed a blanket over her. When the raindrops start to fall harder, I gently try to pick her up without waking her. She sighs in my arms, but doesn’t fully wake.
Carrying her back to the house, I tap on the backdoor, hoping someone is awake who can open it for me. If there’s no one there, I can manage, but it’ll probably wake her up. From inside, I see Tom get up from the kitchen table. “I was about to come get you both. There’s a storm coming.”
“Thanks for the blanket,” I tell him as I walk past him and head into the living room. Sitting down on the couch, I readjust Ryanne on my lap, so she can sleep comfortably.
“That wasn’t me. James brought it out for you guys when we realized that you hadn’t come back in,” he says.
Of course it was him.
A loud pang of thunder echoes outside, but Ryanne jumps up and almost falls off the couch. I reach out and steady her. “Ryanne, Ryanne. Calm down. It’s just thunder.” She turns toward me, breathing heavily.
“Oh my goodness,” she settles down and looks around. “Did we fall asleep here?”
“No, we fell asleep outside, but it started raining, so I brought you in here,” I tell her. I struggle to keep down a laugh. Her curls are very crazy this morning. The humidity and wind caused them to thicken. “You’re having a crazy hair day,” I say as I try to brush some of her curls aside.
Ryanne runs a hand through her hair and looks toward the window. The clouds have thickened. They open up and start to steadily downpour on the world below. Ryanne jumps again as more thunder rumbles. “You’re a little jumpy this morning. Are you okay?” I ask her.
She ignores me and continues to watch the window; her shoulders tense when lightning strikes the ground in the distance. I look behind me at Tom, who’s just as confused as I am. Reaching around, I force Ryanne to turn toward me. The fear is obvious in her wide eyes as they connect with mine. “Ryanne, what’s going on?”
“We need to get out of here,” she says as she jumps off the couch and runs up the stairs. I turn around and look at Tom. At the same time, we both jump up and follow Ryanne upstairs. She’s banging on everyone’s doors. When someone opens the door, she goes onto the next one. Tom and I stop in the hallway and watch Ryanne. David and Emma sleepily turn toward me questioningly. I shrug. I honestly have no idea what’s going on.
Ryanne stops halfway down the hallway and turns around to face me. The rest of the doors in the hallway open up to see what all the noise is about. Biting her bottom lip, she looks dow
n and shakes her head. Her shoulders fall as she runs a hand through her hair. Looking back at everyone in the hallway, a single tear rolls down her cheek. Ry…
“Don’t attack. I’ll go with you!” she yells.
Who is she talking to? Ryanne walks up to me and grabs my face. Her eyes glisten with more unshed tears. She pulls me down to her and kisses me quickly. All too soon, she pulls away and moves around me, walking toward the stairs again. “I’m so sorry for what I’m about to do,” she whispers.
“What’s—” A large gust of wind blows through the hallway knocking everyone back a couple of steps. Tom and I are thrown backward from the force. Landing on my back, I instantly sit up and look over at Tom, who’s just as confused at what just happened. “She’s creating more distance between us,” I whisper.
“I knew you’d finally come to your senses,” Dravin says as he steps into the hallway. Adam, Natasha, and Valdus all follow after him. Large Gadramicks fill in the hallway behind them and get in a defensive stance. Natalie and Conner gasp when they see their sister. Natasha smiles and waves to her family, but the grin is anything but pleasant. I get up to go to Ryanne, but Tom grabs my arms and holds me back.
“She stepped away from you for a reason, Colton. She most likely had a vision about this,” he whispers to me. I stop struggling. Just because he’s right doesn’t mean I have to like it. Dravin looks past Ryanne, and his eyes land on me.
“Interesting. I vividly remember planting a dagger into your side and watching you bleed out at my compound,” he says as he turns back to Ryanne, “which would mean that you—”
“I said I’ll go with you. Leave them out of this,” Ryanne says to Dravin. The fear is no longer decipherable in her voice. She sounds confident and angry. He moves forward and walks a slow circle around Ryanne. Her body tenses as Dravin trails a hand across her shoulder blade, moving her hair to the side. Tom reaches out and clasps onto my upper arm to keep me from moving.
Liam walks over to me. “What are we going to do?” he whispers.
