Page 86 of Sheltered

Nothing else needed to be said as Forrest stepped forward and said, “I’m going with you.”

Huck and Greyson did the same.

Without another word exchanged between us, we took off toward the exit.

I did it while feeling nothing but despair.

Harlow

The last two months had been the best of my life.

I didn’t think there was anything that could top the feeling I had whenever I gave myself permission to consider just how much my life had changed since that horrible first date at the pub with a guy whose name I couldn’t even remember now.

As quickly as I could snap my fingers, Blaze swooped in and became the man I didn’t know I needed my whole life.

And the best part about it all was that there wasn’t a single sign that things were going to change in a negative way, even after all this time.

Granted, I guess this was technically still a new relationship, but it felt like I’d known Blaze for a lifetime. Heck, I couldn’t remember what life was like before I’d met him.

The man just made everything better; he made it fun and exciting. While there was a part of me that had expected it would be that way at the start, there was another part of me that wondered if we were just in the honeymoon phase of our relationship and that it could change at any moment.

It hadn’t.

And I was finally beginning to believe and accept that it likely never would.

Blaze was still as attentive and loving as ever. He still went out of his way to do thing to make me happy. Even though I knew he was that kind of guy, I did my best not to take advantage of it. Not only did I not want him to resent me, but I appreciated the way he loved me more than anything else. I never wanted to do anything to jeopardize that.

Over the course of the last three weeks, I was even willing to say things between us had gotten even better. Not only did we have time to explore the physical part of our relationship, which had been a whole lot of fun, but we had also had our double date with Olive and Ben, gone on a couple of dates to check a few more items off my list of things I’d never experienced, and had several quiet nights in.

No matter what we did, it was always spectacular. And if I had my way, I’d be with him forever.

I could only hope Blaze was feeling similarly.

As it turned out, he told me he’d finally reached out to his parents, told them about me, and expressed his interest in having the whole family together to meet me. From what Blaze shared with me, they were thrilled with the news and more than prepare to host dinner at their place.

So, Blaze and I had this weekend to ourselves, but next weekend, I’d finally be meeting his parents for the first time and getting to know his sisters better, too. I was beyond excited about it.

But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t just a bit nervous about it. While I didn’t think Blaze would ever put me in a situation that would be awkward or uncomfortable for me, there was still that worry about how it would go lingering in the back of my mind. I hoped his family would like me just as much as my family liked him.

For now, I intended to do my best to ignore those worries and push them to the back of my mind, so I could simply enjoy the next week with Blaze. Luckily, I’d be able to get that started in less than thirty minutes, because I’d just finished up with my last client of the day.

We’d gotten her scheduled for her next two appointments, and once she’d paid, she was out the door. My day was done, and I was looking forward to spending the evening with my guy.

So, I started going about my normal routine of cleaning up and getting things put away, so I wouldn’t feel frazzled when I came in tomorrow morning for another busy day. I’d gotten through nearly all of that when the door to the salon opened and a woman walked in.

I didn’t recognize the woman and said, “Hi. How can I help you?”

She smiled and replied, “I was curious if you were accepting new clients.”

Not wanting to seem unappreciative, considering the prospect of gaining a new client did make me happy, I ignored the part of my brain that was wondering why this woman had to wait until the very definition of last-minute to come in to talk to me. Pretending I didn’t have the desire to leave the salon that I did, I smiled back at her. “I am,” I confirmed. “What are you looking to have done? Is this for a special occasion?”

“Oh, I’m just looking for a new place to switch to altogether,” she explained. “The salon I’ve been going to seems to just keep raising their prices every time I go in, so I’ve decided to see what other options I’ve got available.”

I nodded my understanding. “Sure. Well, I mean, we can certainly get you scheduled for something, if you’d like. What would you need to have done?”

“Probably some color and a cut,” she answered.

“Perfect. Yeah, I can definitely get that taken care of for you. Did you have a time frame in mind?” I questioned her.