Page 168 of That Last Summer

“Hello again, Cabana,” Jaime greets me.

“What are you—”

Alex cuts me off. “Were you thinking of leaving without me again? Huh?”

“I... I...”

“Tell me you love me, Priscila. And tell me since when.”

“Since the first time I saw you,” I reply without hesitation. “My heart went bump-bump. It’s one of the first memories I have; you’re one of my first memories.”

“And since that first bump, have you ever stopped loving me? In all these years, did you stop loving me?”

“No. Never. Not for a single minute.”

I have no doubts. Finally, I have none. Because I know. I know I’ve always loved him.

“And what the hell are you doing here?”

“I... I’m going to Boston.”

Now my eyes are stinging from the effort I’m making not to cry.

“I don’t think so, Queen of the Desert.”

“Don’t call me—”

He grabs my arm and pulls me close to his body. The agitated breathing I noticed from afar vibrates in my chest now; my heart speeds to match its rhythm, and I can hear that too.

“You’ll always be my Queen of the Desert.”

“Can you kiss her now so we can go home?” my brother asks. At least, I think it was Adrián. I couldn’t be sure.

“Are you going to kiss me?”

“Yes, I’m going to kiss you. I’m going to get you out of here and I’m taking you to our home, which you should never have left, and we’re going to be happy for the rest of our lives.”

“Happily ever after?” Tears are streaming down my face. I still can’t believe this is actually happening.

“Like fucking fairytales, or whatever you want it to be. Just tell me you’re staying.”

“Damn, he’s such a romantic,” my friend says mockingly.

“Priscila, please. Don’t leave me.”

“No, never again.”

Alex smiles that smile that gives me life and grabs me by the nape to join his lips to mine in a kiss full of veiled words and promises of a future together. I hug him tightly and I know that, from this moment on, we will never be apart again. Our tongues twist together, longing for reunion, and at that contact my heart goes... bump!

“Everything’s so beautiful and all that, but what the hell were you doing at ‘arrivals,’ Pris? Blondie here didn’t give us any explanations,” Jaime says, pointing to my brother.

Reluctantly, I pull away from my husband’s mouth. My arms are still around his neck. I’m not going to let him go.

“I lost my bearings,” I explain. “What are you doing here?”

“I ran into these two three minutes after I dropped you off at the entrance,” he says. “They were looking for you, although they didn’t tell me why. They’re lovely. Both of them. We went to the check-in counters, but you were already gone, so they bought a flight each to get through security.”

“What? You did that?”