Page 16

Jonah - One Year Later

“Is that the last of it?”

Gemma sets down a heavy box of books in the middle of the condo Susie and I signed on late last week, then dramatically wipes the back of her hand over her brow. “Your stuff’s heavy as hell. What do you have in here, bricks?”

“Hey now, did I give you shit about that armoire you made me move for you and Kasey?”

“Yeah, you totally did.”

I grab a soda from the fridge and toss it to her. “I think your memory is going. I was nothing but happy to help you move.”

“Sure you were,” she says, rolling her eyes as she sinks down onto the sofa.

My folks, Gemma, and Kasey have been in town all weekend helping Susie and me move into our new place. Susie’s parents were here yesterday, too, and while it might not be quite the same as having the entire clan pitching in, it’s meant the world to both of us.

We’re nearly wrapped up with moving everything in, and though we’ll no doubt be spending the next few weeks putting everything just where we want it, the place already feels like home. A little haven to start the next chapter of our lives together.

Right on cue, Susie, Kasey and my parents walk through the front door carrying their own last boxes, setting them down with definitive, satisfied thuds.

And that’s it, we’re moved in.

Dad slings an arm around Susie’s shoulder. “You two will take care of each other, yeah?”

It’s what worries dad most, knowing I’m out here without the support of a clan. I don’t blame him, but between Susie and the Bureau and all the friends I’ve made as I’ve cobbled together this life outside the village, he’s got nothing to worry about.

“Of course we will,” Susie says.

He gives her a squeeze and drops his arm. “And if there’s anything you ever need, we’re only—”

“A six-hour plane trip away?” I ask, and he scowls at me, but it melts a moment later as he runs a hand over the back of his neck.

“You know we worry,” he says with a shrug.

“And we always will,” mom chimes in.

“I know,” I say. Susie crosses the room to stand beside me and I squeeze her hand. “But we’re alright, really.”

It’ll never be enough to convince them, but I suppose that’s just parents.

Later, once we’ve all indulged in a pizza dinner with whatever scattered plates and utensils we could find in the boxes, and everyone has returned to their hotel for the evening so they can catch their early flights tomorrow, that same tenderness hits me square in the chest again.

That same sense of how right this all is, even if it’s underscored by a bit of bittersweetness.

Susie and I head up to the rooftop to catch the sunset, the perfect end to our first night here, the rest of our lives stretching wide in front of us.

Susie

Watching the sunset over the city, joy and contentment and more than a little exhaustion from carrying boxes all day sit comfortably on my shoulders.

Standing at the railing, I breathe the night air deep.

It’s what sold me on this place, the fact that it’s got this little rooftop oasis. Open to all the building’s tenants, I already know it’s going to be the perfect place to lounge with a book or host gatherings with friends.

Two strong arms close around me from behind, and a contented murmur breaks across my skin as Jonah buries his face in the side of my neck.

“I thought they’d never leave.”

I snort. “You know it would have taken us like five times as long to move in if they weren’t here, right?”

“True,” he allows, nipping at my ear in just the way he knows will make me squirm. “But if it was just us, I’d have bent you over the kitchen counter as soon as we’d brought up the last box.”

“The counter’s still there,” I point out, breathless, and he drops his lips to the extra-sensitive spot where my neck meets my shoulder. “So’s the bed. And the couch. And the shower. And all the other places I’m going to—”

My words cut off in a yelp as Jonah picks me up and effortlessly tosses me over his shoulder.

“What are you doing?”

A chuckle rumbles through him. “Making use of our new place. And we’ll have to be quick about it. We’ve got to be up bright and early to carpool in to the Bureau tomorrow.”

***

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