Our Way

I smile. Nathan is going to freak and throw the camera in the garbage as soon as she returns it, but whatever. “Sure.”

“Thanks, Lize.”

“Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

“You’re wearing condoms, right?”

“Goodbye, Eliza.” The phone goes dead, and I giggle. That may have been pushing it.

I arrive back at our apartment just after 5:00 p.m. and find Nathan sitting out on the balcony. There’s music playing, and he’s overlooking the ocean with a Corona beer in his hand. He turns and flashes me a slow, sexy smile. The way he looks at me now is so different to how he used to look at me. I can feel his adoration from across the room.

“Hello.” He stands and walks to me.

“Hi.” I kiss him, and he slides his hand down my behind to squeeze it.

“How was the massage?” he asks.

“Heavenly.” I take his beer from him and take a sip. “How was your afternoon?”

“Good.” He smiles. “I got you a present.”

“You did?”

He lifts his shirt to reveal a tattoo of three birds with long wings flying across the side of his ribcage, toward the front of his body. There’s one bird at the back and two at the front. Its red and swollen but its beauty can’t be hidden.

My eyes widen and rise to his.

He points to the two birds at the front. “Those are the two birds in that story of yours.”

I smile goofily. “You and me?”

He kisses me softly. “Uh-huh, that’s us flying into the sunset.”

My mouth falls open. “Nathe,” I whisper in awe. I point to the other swallow at the back. “Who’s this?”

“The life I left behind.”

My eyes rise to his, what does that mean? I stare at him for a moment as I process that statement. Does it bother him?

“Is that okay… that you left that life behind?”

“It’s like it never happened,” he whispers as he tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear.

My heart freefalls. “I love you, Nathe,” I whisper. “So much.”

He kisses me softly and hugs me tight. “I love you, too, baby.”

We stand in each other’s arms for a long time. I feel so close to him… like he’s a part of me—two souls connected together by their hearts.

“How haven’t I seen what’s between us before now?” I ask. “How did we live without this?”

“I don’t know.” He chuckles and pulls me closer. “I think we always knew on some level, but we were just too dumb to read the signs.”

His lips take mine, and his kiss is slow, tender, and erotic. His tongue slides through my open lips, and I smile against them as an idea comes to my head. “What happens if we smudge the tattoo?”

“I don’t know but I’m happy to try.” He raises an eyebrow mischievously.