Page 91 of Meet Me Back Here

“I’m so proud of you,” I say.

“That’s not why I’m here though. I have something to show you,” Forrest says. “Go put something warmer on.”

I look at him with confusion.

“We do stuff like this in the treehouse,” he says.

I hurry upstairs and throw sweats on right over my flannel pajamas. When I get back downstairs, Forrest is in the kitchen, slipping something in his back pocket.

“What’s that?” I ask, nosy as ever.

“Backup,” he says ominously before opening the side door for me.

I shove my feet into my boots and follow him out.

When I start climbing the ladder, Forrest laughs quietly.

“I’ve never gotten to tell you how fantastic of a view this is,” he says from below me.

I don’t have a chance to tease him back because I’ve reached the floor of the treehouse, and the glow of about a thousand lights is shining back at me.

Nearly every open inch of space is covered in little potted cacti and succulents, a string of tiny rainbow twinkle lights draped from one to the next.

I pull myself up, careful not to disturb any of the plants, and look around in awe. Forrest appears at my side a moment later.

“Forrest, what’s all this?” I ask, finding him grinning at me.

“I know it’s not Christmas yet, and filling the treehouse with something is really the birthday tradition, but it just felt right,” he starts. “This is me telling you I support whatever you want to do with the DCU job.”

I lean over, moving awkwardly in the cramped treehouse and kiss him. It’s really too small for us, even without fifty mini potted plants. Forrest sits cross-legged, and I curl up, half on top of him.

“Forrest, I want to take the job,” I whisper, craning my head so I can look up at him from where my cheek is pressed against his shoulder.

He smiles wider.

“I know you do,” he says, running a hand through my hair. “And I think that’s wonderful.”

“I need you to know it’s not like last time. I’m not running away. I’m running toward something I think can be really great. Not just the job, but Arizona. I didn’t realize how badly I missed it. How much I love it out there. And I know there are a lot of moving pieces here, but if you want to, I want you to come with me,” I say. It’s a huge ask, but I need him to know I want him in my life.

“Well, it’s a really good thing you said that because I was planning on coming anyway.” Forrest tips my head further back with a finger under my chin and kisses me again.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

I feel Forrest’s rumbling laugh through my body.

“Exactly what I said.” His eyes are so bright when he looks down at me. “If you go, I go.”

“Are you sure?” I ask, wanting to scream and jump around, but needing to make sure Forrest wants this too. This feels like the part where a shoe should be dropping. It can’t be this easy, can it? “What about your job?”

“What about it?” Forrest shrugs. “It’s a job. There are jobs in Arizona. I’ve actually been looking at some of them.”

“What? Since when?” I lean back, furrowing my brow in confusion.

“Since that first day of your workshop. Jason and I had been chatting for a bit before you came out, and from how he was talking, I could tell he wanted you to stay. And after seeing you out there?” Forrest shakes his head with a soft smile, like he’s picturing it. “Cam, I’ve never seen you thrive like that. It’s like being out there woke you up. It was obvious that you love Arizona. So, while you were teaching, I poked around and looked at some architecture firms. Checked out the process for transferring my license once I get it… Just in case.”

“You did that for me? Even though we just got back together?” Even as I’m asking it, of course he did. That’s Forrest.

“I let you go last time, and I don’t intend to make that mistake again,” he says simply. “We can figure the rest out. And we might have just gotten back together, but I’ve loved you for almost my whole damn life. That isn’t going to change.”