Chapter 196: Chapter 196

Tor POV

When we get further up the mountains, I pull over onto a small area for parking and kill the engine, motioning for her to hop off before I put the kickstand down. She gives me a squeeze before she gets off and takes her helmet off while I take a bottle of water out of my saddle bag.

"Are you having fun?" I ask her, taking the helmet from her hand and resting it on the back of my bike.

She nods, her eyes dancing with the same happiness I'm feeling.

"I really am. It's beautiful up here."

"It is."

I reach for her hand and she immediately slides hers into mine like we've been together forever.

And maybe we have.

We walk a ways into the woods, following the beaten trail to where there are groups of small waterfalls running down the mountain. The air is cooler up here than it was down in our town, and it makes me want to pull her closer to me and put my arm around her. As if reading my mind, she looks up at me and leans her head against my arm.

"I'm glad you asked me to come," she says softly.

"Me, too. I've been wanting to do this for a while."

When we reach the first waterfall that pours over the cliff, we sit next to each other on a huge rock nestled into the side of the mountain with large tree roots twisting around it. I'm glad no one else is here today. Most times when I come up here there are other riders or couples here, and sometimes kids running around making a lot of noise.

"Are you glad to be back home?" I ask.

"Yeah, I always get a little homesick, even though I love being with Aunt Katherine. She asked me to come back and stay there. Like permanently… to live there and work with her."

A flash of hot pain sears through my gut and up into my chest.

"Is that what you want to do?" I ask, trying to keep my voice even.

She runs her finger along a soft patch of moss on the rock.

"It's tempting. I like being there and meeting the new guests is always pretty cool. And she would teach me how to cook more meals so I can be more helpful."

She raises her eyes to mine.

"But I also was looking forward to working with you at the shop like we talked about and volunteering with your mom at the shelter and helping you with the rescues."

"I'm sure there's an animal shelter near Katherine's where you could volunteer."

"Yeah… that's true but you and your mom are like family, so it means more to me. Before I left for Maine, your mom and I were talking about things we could do to raise more awareness about the shelter and rescue, and how we can help people more who have lost their pets — like printing lost posters for them. If we had a high speed laser printer we could print off a few hundred lost notices in just a few minutes and start hanging them around town right away. For most people, it takes them days to print those things and they only print like twenty. I wanted to buy the printer and donate it."

Her thin shoulders shrug shyly.

"I don't know, I was just thinking of ways to help. It makes me feel good."

I try to speak but I can't because I'm too busy fighting the urge to kiss her again. She's so damn perfect for me. And maybe I made her that way by spending too much time with her over the years. I meshed her into every part of my life, and now she's grown into someone who cares as much about the things that are important to me as I do. Sydni never invested herself into the pet rescue with me and often rolled her eyes when I talked about it.

And she definitely wouldn't be caught dead at my mom’s shelter bathing dogs or walking around town hanging posters of lost pets. It always bothered me to not have someone who would be involved in that part of my life with me. Especially after growing up with two parents who were so dedicated to their mission that they built their entire lives around it.

Kyra continues to talk, completely clueless to the fact that she's crawling even deeper into my heart and making me want to run home, dump my jar of change onto the floor and stick a monstrous ring on her finger. My head starts to feel dizzy and I gulp my water, hoping it will wash away the fucked-up thoughts and feelings I'm having.

"And I was thinking it would be nice to maybe have some sort of grief counseling available for the people who have a missing pet that we find out has passed away while it was missing. Like that poor lady whose dog got run over. RemElara how devastated she was?"

She blinks back a tear.

"When Snuggles died it took me days to stop crying. I can't imagine what those people feel like to lose their pets so suddenly and tragically, ya know?"

I nod and drink more water.

I will not think about proposing to an eighteen-year-old girl.

"What? Is it all stupid?" she asks. "God, no."

"Then why aren't you saying anything?"

"You just sorta amaze me sometimes, that's all. I love how your mind works."

I put my water bottle on the rock next to me again.

"So you like my ideas?"

"No, I love your ideas. So will my mom."

She beams.

"Really? I was going to talk to her next week."

"Seriously, she'll love all of it, Kyra. I'll even split the cost of the printer with you, how's that sound? It's a wicked cool idea for us to do that to help people. The faster the posters go up, the better chance they have of finding the dog."

She nods with excitement.

"I like being able to do something that makes a difference, ya know? It makes me feel important and like I'm doing something that actually matters. I don't want to be the rich rock star's kid that does nothing. I want to help."