Chapter 21

HUDSON

Her muscles clenched around me, and I came right along with her. Her eyes fluttered open, her breath ragged. I saw the passion reflecting back at me. Her body milked mine, pulling every last drop from me.

I slowly pulled out of her. There was a mix of satisfaction and longing in her eyes. She was spent, but the desire was still there. I moved to lie next to her, our bodies tangled together. She reached up to trace her fingers lightly across my cheek, and her touch was electric.

"Thank you," she whispered softly.

I smiled, feeling pride and satisfaction. I had given her something she had been waiting for, and it was incredible. I pulled her closer, wrapping my arm around her, feeling her breath against my chest.

This moment would be etched in my memory forever. We lay quietly, basking in the afterglow of our passion. Slowly, I started to stroke her hair, feeling the silkiness of it between my fingers. She smiled up at me, her cheeks flushed and her lips puffy from our kissing.

"That was incredible," she murmured.

I chuckled playfully. "Well, I aim to please," I replied, a satisfied grin spreading across my lips.

Giggling, Diana rolled onto her stomach, propping herself up on her elbows to look up at me. The moonlight cast a soft glow over her features. I was certain I had never seen anything so beautiful in all my life.

"What places of the world do you long to see the most?" I asked her.

Her eyes lit up with excitement. "I've always imagined walking through the streets of Edinburgh," she began. "Ducking into a bookstore when it starts to rain, finding a cozy corner to read."

"That sounds like something a teacher would say," I teased.

"I'd love to see the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt," she went on. "I love watching Nat Geo. I've always wondered if they are as big and impressive in person as they look on TV."

"Can't say I know firsthand," I replied. "Where else? If you could go anywhere, where would it be?"

She took a deep breath. "Angkor Wat in Cambodia would probably be my top choice. Although Machu Picchu is also pretty amazing."

I nodded thoughtfully. "Machu Picchu, now that's a place I've always wanted to visit. That's on my list as well." I leaned down and kissed her gently on the forehead. "We'll go to all of those places someday. Just the two of us, exploring the world together."

She laughed as if it was nothing more than a pipe dream, which was fair. A trip around the world was a lot to promise a girl after one night together.

"I love teaching my third graders about all those places," she said wistfully. "I always dream about actually going and taking pictures that I can show them. But with each passing year, I feel like that dream is slipping further and further from my grasp."

"Why?" I asked. "Why can't you go to those places?"

She sighed, her eyes drifting up. "It's just not feasible for me. With all the responsibilities I have at school and the limited time off I get, it's almost impossible to plan a trip like that. And then there's the expense of it all."

"But life is too short to always put off our dreams," I countered.

"My life here is very small, Hudson," she confessed. "It's lovely, and it's mine, but it's small. People like me don't travel the world. We dream about it, but we don't do it."

I reached out to gently brush a stray lock of hair from her face, my heart aching at the sadness in her eyes. I wanted to wrap her in my arms and promise to show her that there was so much more out there waiting for her to discover.

"Diana, your dreams are not small."

She was quiet, staring off at nothing. I hoped she wasn't having second thoughts about the sex. I sure as hell wasn't. Being with her had easily been one of the best sexual experiences of my life. She made me feel special by giving me the gift of her virginity. It wasn't something I took lightly.

"The longer you stay in Cold Springs, the harder it is to leave." She sighed. "I think I might be destined to follow in my father's footsteps."

"And what footsteps are those?" I asked.

She took a deep breath. "I'm afraid that Cold Springs will become me, and I'll become it. That it will be too late to do anything about it by that time. I'll forever be the mayor's daughter, the public servant. The good teacher. The eldest daughter with the moral compass. The leader. The strong shoulder to cry on. I'm the one other young women should look up to and aspire to be. I put on a brave face, and I pretend everything is all good, but inside I'm screaming to get out. I don't want to be the perfect daughter. I don't want people looking to me as the model they should be trying to emulate. My life is boring. Yes, I enjoy my job and it is fulfilling, but I just feel so stuck. I feel like I'm going to keep doing what I've been doing for years. Day in and day out I go to work, do my job, and then go home. If my life was a heartbeat, it would be a flat line."

She looked at me, a shocked and horrified expression on her face. She seemed to realize how much she had shared. "I must sound so silly, complaining about my perfect life here," she said. "Poor me. The girl with a loving family, a good job, and I get to live in a place that is relatively peaceful. I don't have to lock my door at night and I'm bitching about it."

I shook my head, reaching out to gently brush a stray lock of hair from her face. "It's not silly at all," I assured her. "You're bored. You want to see if the grass is greener. It's natural. Where you live and how you live say a lot about you."

"Oh?" she asked. "What does it say about me?"

"It says that you're a smart, caring woman with a passion for exploration and teaching," I replied. "But most of all, it shows that you have a longing for more adventure and experiences in life. You don't have to be defined by your current circumstances, Diana. The world is full of possibilities."

Diana's eyes lit up at my words. It was as if she had been waiting for someone to understand, to empathize with the struggles she faced.

"Change can be good," I said. "Sometimes we all need a change to snap us out of the rut we're in. I don't think it means we can never go home, but we need to step away from our comfort zone and reflect."

"You sound like you know what I'm talking about," she said.

"There's a reason I'm here, after all," I said.

I felt the need to bare my soul, to share with her the depths of my struggles and the journey that had led me to this moment. I knew she wondered how I ended up in her little town. Before, I was cool operating with an air of mystery, but she deserved to know the truth. She trusted me. I could trust her with some of my secrets. I didn't know if I was quite ready to go all in. This would be a test. Would I scare her off with the truth?

"I didn't just need a change of scenery," I confessed. "I needed to change myself from the inside out. I never expected Cold Springs to be the cure I needed. I'm not convinced it is, but maybe it's giving me the clarity I needed to see what I was doing."

I watched as Diana listened intently. There was something about her presence that made it easy for me to open up, to peel back the layers and reveal the man I truly was.

"I had a drinking problem, a partying problem," I admitted, the words heavy on my tongue. "I became someone I wasn't proud of. I was going to jail at least once a month. Not for committing crimes, but because I was too high or drunk to be allowed to be out in the wild. It was for my safety and the safety of others. I can honestly say I don't remember a lot of the last year. My memories on any given day generally start with waking up with a hangover, drinking to cure the hangover, and then waking up in a random place. Sometimes home. Sometimes the drunk tank. Sometimes a stranger's place."

Diana's eyes widened in shock as she listened to my story. "How did you find your way here?" she asked. "And how did you know you needed to change?"

"I didn't know it all at once," I said. "It was a slow, painful process. But I reached a point where I couldn't ignore the consequences of my actions anymore. I knew I had to do something before it was too late. My brothers gave me some tough love. My brother Zayn told me to get out of the city and away from the people I was partying with. So, I came here to regroup, to wipe the slate clean."

Diana reached out, gently squeezing my hand in hers. "I'm glad you found your way here," she said softly. "And I'm glad you found me."

I smiled at her words, feeling a warmth spread through me at the realization that I was exactly where I was meant to be.

"If you're Cold Springs, and Cold Springs is you, then I've found the best place on earth right here beside you."

Diana leaned in and kissed me again, her lips meeting mine in a passionate embrace. She dropped down to her back once again. I went up on my elbow to look down at her.

"I think you might be right about the grass being greener," she said. "It's not just about the physical place, but about the people we surround ourselves with. It's who we experience life with."

"Very true," I murmured, looking at her swollen lips and wanting her all over again.

She pulled me down to kiss her once more. It was the most real connection I'd ever felt with anyone. There was something about Diana that made me feel safe, understood, and alive all at once.

The way her hands were running over my bare back with her body moving against me had things getting very, very hot again. "I've got one more condom," I whispered. "Want to use it?"

She grinned. "Yes, I want to do it again."