When I step out onto the wood, it’s cooler on my feet than I thought it would be. I try to tiptoe toward the cover, and my foot sinks into it. It feels like I’m walking on a cloud. "I don’t think this cover is meant to be on this balcony." I laugh, unsure of myself.
He sits down on one side of the blanket and then pats the side beside him. "Make yourself at home."
I walk to the spot that he just patted and go down on one knee and then the other, trying to gracefully sit without my feet flying out from under me and avoid suddenly being on my back with my legs up in the air. I almost celebrate out loud when I sit down next to him without a disaster. I curl my feet to the side of me, but my knees are close to him, touching his leg. He takes off the tin foil around the cork and then twists the little wire around it, and then he pops the cork. Champagne flies out, and he quickly moves his hand to the side so it can spill off the cover. "I hope you didn’t put your credit card down for a deposit,” I joke with him, and he brings the bottle to his lips and takes a sip.
"I know the owner," he assures me, handing me the bottle. I try not to think about how his lips just touched the top of the bottle when I bring it to my lips. The cold sweet, bubbly champagne hits my lips and then my tongue. I really shouldn’t be drinking anything else tonight, but my buzz says otherwise.
"This is a good one," I say, handing it back to him, and our fingers graze when he takes it. The little way my stomach rises and then falls makes me look up at the sky. The stars are twinkling like little diamonds, the sound of crickets fills the area, and if you close your eyes, it sounds just like home.
"Only the best," he says, and I look over at him as he sits down with his legs extended in front of him. "For the mister." He laughs, shaking his head. He brings the bottle to his lips and takes three gulps, and then hands it back to me. Our fingers graze each other again, and this time they linger longer, and my heartbeat starts to speed up faster and faster. I try to control my breathing and also the way my head is starting to spin, and I wonder if it’s from the booze or being with him.
"Good to know," I say, putting the bottle against my lips again while Travis grabs a strawberry and bites it.
"Strawberry and champagne," he says, looking up at the stars. "Who knew that combination was good."
I put the bottle down on the cover and then take my hand off it. I can see it falling to the side as soon as my fingers are not touching it, and we both spring into action before it spills all over the cover, and it would have mostly fallen on him. "Ooh," I say, rushing to get it at the same time as his hands come out to stop it also. His hands cover mine as he catches the bottle at the same time as me, but it spills half out onto the blanket, and he picks it up, my hand still wrapped around the bottle. "Crisis averted," I say, looking down at our hands touching. My breathing is coming out in pants, and I really hope it’s not echoing in the silent night. I make the stupid mistake of looking up at him, and he’s suddenly a lot closer than I thought he was. So close I can feel his breath on my face, so close that I can smell his cologne. So close that I’m afraid to move away from him. "Travis." I say his name in a whisper, and it happens in slow motion, or maybe it’s just the fog of what is happening.
His hands leave mine and come up to hold my face. "Harlow." I see his lips moving to say my name, and before I know what is happening, his lips are on mine. I don’t know if I’m the one who moans, or he is the one, or if it’s the both of us. But my mouth opens for his, and here in the middle of the night under the stars, I finally get the kiss that I’ve thought about for the last four years.
Chapter 13
Travis
I rush to make sure the bottle doesn’t spill beside me, and my hands fall on hers. The heat from her hands runs through me. My whole chest contracts in a way that only she can do. It’s only ever done that with her. I thought that after her, it was all in my head, but the minute my eyes fell on her, everything became clear. "It’s you. It’s always been you." My hands fly off hers, and I grab her face in mine, and my heart speeds up so fast it sounds like a herd of bulls running through the streets in Spain. Her name leaves my lips right before I pull her to me and kiss her lips.