Because the Night

a girlfriend application

Even if they were in agreement, secrecy was still crucial. Translation? Diego whisked Lily away to a place in the trails where no one except the owner's son, and maybe the naturalist, would know to look. They were on small hand-carved bench tucked underneath 

And there, finally free from the surveillance of Highland and the glares of Lily's coworkers, could they make out in peace. And also in passion. And also with passion. 

If you'd asked Lily, in the middle of all that, how much time had gone by, she'd take in a gust of air and estimate, "Five minutes or a year." 

Time spent didn't matter. Not compared to the significance of the time spent. What was happening between them was important: The confirmation of many months of buildup. It's like living next to a French bakery, and smelling the most delectable croissants of all time, but having a punitive doctor who insists you only eat protein and vegetables. Then you decide to get a new doctor, and eat a damn croissant, and it's as good as you'd hoped. Better. Flakes of Diego were everywhere. Lily felt full—and also like she'd never get enough. 

Diego stopped them before they could go any farther. "We're outside," he said, by way of explanation. 

"Yes...I know," Lily said, with an unsaid "duh," the tone she most frequently deployed between the years of 14 and 18. "So what? All the times we've kissed have been outside."

"So this isn't how I want it to be. Not our first time," he said, kissing her gently again. She was disheveled, but still completely clothed. "Not when there are so many rooms to try out, first." 

"Like the presidential suite?" She'd spent her entire stay there imagining him splayed upon its many lavish surfaces. The gigantic bed. The tub, built for two. Every piece of furniture reminded her that this was a room built for a pair to enjoy. 

His eyes darkened, imagining it too. "Did you warm it up for me?" 

She nodded. She couldn't lie. "Come on," she said. "Let's go now." 

Diego didn't want to do this next part, but he had to. "Actually, as much as I want to—and I do," he said, pointing to his own body, which was arguing against this, "We can't. It's time to study." 

"Study? I passed the SATs, dude. I graduated from college." 

"And I have no doubt that you did. But this thing I told you about—the process by which Moody men approve of the others' matches. It's intense." 

"Didn't I just show you I can handle intense?" She was reeling with the freedom she had to touch him, touch him, touch him, so she ran her fingers through his hair and hoisted herself into his lap. Diego nipped at her ear, and whispered. 

"Not intense like what we've just been doing, Lil. Intense like...they're gonna quiz you."

"Well then, good. Because I did Quiz Bowl in college." 

Diego didn't know that. There was so much to learn. Her favorite color! The one country she had no interest in visiting, ever! The friend she stopped liking, but kept around for old time's sake! He wished he could collect all those facts in a civilized way. Instead of what they were about to do—rushed, and with the walls closing in. She deserved better. 

"Lily, they're going to quiz you about your upbringing. And about your life. And about Highland. Not only to see if you're a good match for me, but if you're a good match for Highland." 

"That's extra." 

Diego now had to come up with a delicate way of saying: They're looking to see if you're a candidate for having my children. Then, he wisely decided that there's no delicate way of saying that. 

"It is, it is. But they're thinking about the future. There's a reason Highland has stayed with the Moody family. Everyone's committed to the hotel, above all. And they raise their kids to be." 

"Are they going to want me to conduct a complete gynecological review, too, to make sure everything's in working order?" Lily scoffed. "What is this? A live-stock sale? Will there be other potential matches on display, and your uncles will weigh their gene compatibility?" 

This wasn't going well. How could it go well? Lily fidgeted until Diego wrapped his arms around her, caught her energy within him.  

"Remember how I said that you could always go? You can. You're just doing me a favor. We have to get through this...process, because it'll change my life. It'll help my life. And then you're free to go."

Lily leaned against him. Had she considered what their kids would look like? Yes, but she's also the type to plan weddings with any guy she had ever had a crush on. That's biology. But she wasn't ready for that step. She wanted to enjoy the kissing phase! Those few golden weeks where oxygen was the second most important substance in the world, and his kisses were the first. This phase wouldn't last forever—it certainly didn't with Colin.

Then again, there was a thrill in having power over Diego for the first time. Which she did. She turned around, so that she was straddling his body. She dipped her head so that her long, wavy hair hung around him. She tilted his chin up so that their mouths were almost touching. 

"I'm going to need a reward for all this studying," she said. 

He leaned up to kiss her, and Lily straightened her back to keep him away. "What might that be?" 

"Surprise me," she said. 

Diego felt himself getting distracted. Clearly, that was her superpower. "The ceremony is on Saturday. It's Wednesday. We have to study." 

By "study," he meant that they had to shape her story—her life story—into a narrative that was going to be compelling to his family. Emphasize her goals, and past experience, and how it fit into the Highland mission. Frankly, Diego couldn't wait to hear the answers. 

 "And then, there's a challenge of how to explain that we met two months ago. But I think we can work that into the story. You're here because you love it..." Diego said, trailing off. 

"Is this a job application?" she asked, interrupting his concentrated stare. 

"It's a...girlfriend application?" He shrugged. There was no way to justify his family's ways other than with a major, "I'm sorry for my hereditary baggage." She'd never seen him look so nervous. If Diego was scared—then his relatives must be scary. 

Lily wanted to know how, exactly, it would work. Would they all be sitting in high black chairs, like villains in a lair? Would they hang upside down from the ceilings? Would there be other women in the room? 

Unfortunately, Diego couldn't answer any specifics. The only people allowed to judge were people who had faced the tribunal of Moody men themselves. 

"I'm just as nervous as you are," he said. 

She shook her head. "Nope, you're not. I'm agreeing to face a firing squad of your family's questions..." She trailed off, without saying what was obvious: I'm not even sure about this. 

"Let's not make it a competition. Let's be scared together. Because unfortunately, the only way we can give us a chance is if we make it through this first," Diego said. 

Lily knew better. The next three days would decide whether they would ever work. Which is why she didn't call her mother. If she did, Annabelle would be driving up the winding mountain road to come and get her. Part of being an adult, Lily thought, was making risky decisions—and living with whatever came next. 

"Wanna start?" He asked. 

"Five more minutes of kissing, then sure." 

It ended up being ten more minutes, but they indeed started studying that afternoon. But nothing, not all the studying in the world, could prepare them for what came next.