Page 57 of Spring Breakup
Tyler started to lead Dean away from the gathering, but Sarg, who had been assisting the photographer by holding her extra camera, shouted, “Don’t go far. You could fall in a hole and die. Pools that look like shallow puddles can be hundreds of feet deep on a glacier.”
“Jesus,” Tyler muttered, waving a hand at Sarg so he knew they’d heard him. “Remind me again why we keep coming to this death trap of a state.”
“Because it’s where we fell in love,” Dean said. They stepped carefully up a raised edge to see what was beyond. From their higher perspective, Skipper Lake, full of huge icebergs, was visible.
Yeah, Tyler could certainly see the appeal. Spring in Alaska had been nice, but summer was extraordinary.
“You fell in love within four days? What fairytale were you living in, sweetheart? That’s too fast,” Tyler said.
Dean laughed and squeezed his hand. Dean melted when Tyler called himsweetheart. It was another aspect of their relationship that had taken time to come easily to Tyler—like trust and sharing a toothbrush—but he was all in now. No doubts, no overthinking. Tyler’s soul was settled. The end.
“I knew I was in trouble before we kissed,” Dean said.
“You want to know the moment for me? The point of no return?” Tyler asked.
“Yes, of course.”
“It was a few months into dating. You had a chance to answer a bonus question at trivia night about the four valves in the heart. And I thought to myself,I lovehisheart. You got the question wrong, and I didn’t even care. The depth of your heart, the incalculability of it, is unmatched. I’ll never let you forget that.”
“Fuck. Come here.” Dean tugged Tyler closer, and Tyler’s foot skidded on the ice.
Dean grabbed him and held him to his chest. They were both breathing hard. Tyler didn’t have a good record when it came to falling in Alaska, and falling on a glacier was evidently way more dangerous than slipping in the glacial silt it had left behind at Chum Smoke Cabins thousands of years ago.
“You always have to swoop in and save me,” Tyler joked once his heart wasn’t trying to make an escape through his mouth. “Maybe thisisa fairytale. You’re the knight.”
“No.” Dean lifted Tyler’s chin and kissed him, first on the forehead, then the lips. “We’ll save each other, always.”