I wasn’t sure what woke me up.

The curtains weren’t parted like they usually were in the morning, so no sun filtered through and into my eyes. But as soon as I opened my eyes, I was wide awake—wide awake, as if I’d been up for hours. Beck wasn’t lying next to me, but he never was when I woke up. As if some internal alarm woke him, he was always first to wake. I didn’t know what kind of time schedule they run over on Luyah, but Beck is up way before the crack of dawn, and he goes to bed at the same time I do—usually around midnight. Luyahians must not need much sleep, because he hardly gets any. Unless he naps during the day, which I didn’t think so.

But this time, when I reached out to touch the imprint of where his body had been, the gray sheets still felt warm. He must’ve just gotten up.

I slipped my legs outside of the comforter as quietly as I could, feeling the warm summer greet my skin. Today would be a busy day—a day that would leave me exhausted no doubt by its end, but I got up anyway. Sleeping in? No thanks. Not when I had something that I’d be damned if I missed. I always missed them. But not today.

Just off the living room hung the balcony. From our fourth floor location, our view was pretty great. We could see the rolling hills that stretched just a little bit beyond Grisham Falls, the tips of the copse of trees that hid the small collection of water falls that Grisham was named for. Even better, the direction of our balcony faced the east; a perfect direction to watch the sun rise.

I found Beck staring at the beginnings of it, sitting on one of the lounge chairs, where the lights were mostly purple and a dirty-looking orange, his back facing me. The balcony door was left wide open, and the cool air of the summer morning filtered through.

My footsteps must’ve been quiet as I approached, because when I smoothed my palms over Beck’s shoulders, he jumped. “Jonas,” he said, craning his neck. His eyes were such a light and vibrant purple—I’d never seen them so bright. I was never up early enough to. “You’re up.”

“I know, weird, right?” I said, pressing a kiss to his cheek. It felt a little stubbly under my lips, making me smile. “I didn’t miss it, right?”

“Not even close. Sit with me and we can watch it together.”

There was no way I was going to object. Instead of moving to the other lounge chair on the balcony, I sat on the other half of his. His back leaned against the back of the chair, but he eased his legs apart so I fit snugly between them, my spine settling along his chest. When his strong arms wrapped around me, I practically melted into him, savoring the feel of the two of us together.

There was something important about that moment with him, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. It almost felt as if the air between us charged, some hidden meaning lurking in the air, but it left me feeling good. Smiley. Happy. With his arms around mine, his chin resting on my shoulder, the beautiful sun being birthed from the horizon, I felt so completely and immeasurably happy.

“Are you going to come by for lunch?” I asked him, hating that I was breaking the quiet of this moment, but I just wanted to hear him speak. “You can come by around 2:30 and then walk me to Cassie’s at 3. If you wanted.”

“I’d love to,” Beck said, voice murmuring from his whisper. “You know I love those country fried steaks.”

“Anything else?”

“Hmm… The coffee is definitely to die for.”

I leaned deeper against him, moving so that his chin grazed my neck. “The waitstaff is pretty attractive. Or, at least, that’s what I’ve heard.”

Beck pressed a gentle kiss at the part where my shoulder met my neck, raising goosebumps along my skin. “I can only think of one waitress.”

“Kelsey?”

Beck sucked in a breath as if to answer, but the sun broke a smidge more from the horizon, casting the entire sky in a different sort of glow. I felt my own breath stall a little in my chest, lungs quivering from the pure beauty of it. Now I got it. I got why Beck woke up every morning to see this, this sunrise. I always thought sunsets were pretty, but this was something else. The way the summer clouds still clung to the sky, the sun’s rays tried to pierce through them.

“I’m glad I got to see this,” I whispered, knowing that it was time to move, time to go start the coffee, get in the shower. But I didn’t want to. If there was a life where I could’ve just sat here forever, cocooned in Beck’s loving arms, watching the sky, I would’ve taken it. Anything to stay with him forever. “I’m glad I didn’t miss this.”

Beck nudged the edge of his nose along the side of my neck, nuzzling me closer. His hands opened under mine and he stretched our palms flat against each other, as if measuring the sizes. At the last second, he curled his fingers around mine, giving them a squeeze. “Me too.”

I hadn’t been expecting to see him walk through the door of the diner, with his hands in his pockets, hair curled over his ears. He looked exactly the same from when I last saw him, months ago, the curve of his smile in place. The feeling I got the last time greeted me again, leaving me feeling almost dizzy, sick.

Jev spotted me instantly from where I stood behind the breakfast bar, and he made a beeline for a chair. “Good afternoon, Jonas,” he greeted as he sat down. He kept his sunglasses in place over his nose, even though he was inside. “I’m surprised to see you again.”

I leaned against the counter opposite of him, though everything inside me screamed to move. I thought about the sticky card of his, the strange feeling I got when I’d looked at it. “Why’s that?”

Jev just smiled, closed-lipped. “You never did call me about your basement.”

“I moved,” I told him. “In with my boyfriend, actually. He didn’t need your services.”

Subtle warning: I’ve got a boyfriend, back off.

Jev raised his palms. “Say no more. Good for you though, taking the next step in your relationship. That’s very admirable, especially on his part for taking a step forward.”

The idea of this random stranger speaking about Beck like he knew him threw me for a moment, so much so that I couldn’t think of a word to say in response.

I glanced up at the clock that hung above the diner door. 2:25. Beck would be here any minute.

“How long have you been together?” Jev asked, continuing to pry as if meant nothing.

There wasn’t much that I could pretend to be doing—everyone in the diner already had their food and it was too soon to go back and check on them, or they already had paid and were just sitting and talking. I could pretend to go check on something in the back, but I didn’t want to leave the front unoccupied. “A year.”

“Ooh, wow. Very nice.” He reached up and pushed his sunglasses further up his nose with the side of his finger. “He’s a lucky guy.”

“He’s going to be here any minute,” I said, and it surprised me to hear how warning my voice came out. Low. “He’s stopping by to visit me.”

“What a good boyfriend.”

Now I felt defensive. “He is.” I tipped my head back a little, drawing in a sharp breath. “Can I take your order?”

Jev’s lips curved again into that snake-like kind of smile, the one that sent a somersaulting feeling coursing through my stomach. It pinched everything up, leaving me feeling wrong. I thought about his stupid business card, the slickness of the surface of it. The way it felt when I gripped it, like it was coated with slime. The way he smiled when he gave it to me, checkmate. “I should get going. I was walking by the window and saw you—thought I’d say hello.”

Why would he stop in to see me? It’d been nearly a year ago since I’d seen him. He recognized me in a glance? There was something menacing about his words. But then again, maybe it was all in my head.

Jev pushed slowly up from his chair, gaze seeming to level on me—I couldn’t tell exactly where his eyes were, but it felt intrusive. Lazy. He tapped his knuckles along the surface of the countertop before pivoting on his heel, showing me his back as he walked away. When he got to the door, he didn’t glance back as he opened it. My heart pounded the entire time as I watched him go, shut the door behind him and walk past the glass of the diner window. The kind of heart pounding that made me feel like I was about to faint. At the last second, he cut to look at me once more before vanishing from view.

I sagged against the back countertop, reaching up and scrubbing a hand across my brow. No one in the dining room seemed to notice the encounter; they all either kept eating or talking with each other. Now that Jev was gone, my mind seemed to kickstart back into gear, as if awakening from a dream.

My heart, too, jumpstarted when I saw Beck pull open the diner door.

His eyes met mine immediately, his face lighting up, and everything in me felt warm. The breath I drew in felt easy, watching as he drew closer and closer. “Right on time,” Beck said with that smile, so easy and perfect. He settled into the exact same seat Jev had just been sitting at, resting his forearms against the tabletop. He raised one eyebrow, concern crossing his features. “You okay?”

“I am now,” I said, cheesily answering his question, and laid my hand on his arm. With his presence here, I felt a million times better. It was as if him being merely in the room made everything feel lighter, airier. Safer. I thought about how in a half hour I’d have to go relieve Mrs. Rivers from watching Cassie, spend most of my day with him. I thought about how I’d have a chance with Beck as he walked me over, and thought about just how many times I’d get to kiss him in between. “So…country fried steak?”