Page 16 of The World
“I don’t know what the future for us would look like. I know we’ve only known each other a handful of days, and I know there are a million things we’d have to work out logistically. But I’m really fucking good at logistics, Ethan.”
He chuckled, then lifted a hand to rub his forehead.
“What you’re asking… It’s…”
“Crazy? Risky? I know. But this really brave guy once told me that love wasn't just a collection of data points, it was about spontaneous generation. Something that appears out of nowhere.” I swallowed. “It did for me.”
“L-love? After two days?” He shook his head. “No way. Who evenareyou right now?”
“I’m a guy who’s looking at his future,” I said simply. “I'm a guy who's never going to apologize for bumping into you at the charity event, because it was the best thing I've ever done. Remember earlier, you said you’d doanything,” I reminded him. “You shook on it.”
His eyes narrowed. “Onlyyou,Taika Parata, would bring up an agreement made under duress…”
“Duress,” I scoffed.
“Extremesexualduress,” he insisted, “to try to prove an argument like this. It’s cheating. It’srude.”
“I seem to be rude a lot,” I admitted, smiling beatifically. “I really need someone around who isn’t afraid to call me on it.”
He shook his head sadly, and my heart stopped for a second, thinking this was the end.
“I always figured if fate were going to send me a sign, it would be something splashy and neon-obvious. But I’m starting to think my sign from above was a little subtler. Like an arm bump.”
He gave me his brilliant smile, and all at once, I knew everything was going to be okay.
“Yes,” he said, pressing his lips to mine. “This is a risk worth taking.”
Epilogue
~Ethan~
“Stop that,” I said, slapping Taika’s arm as he attempted to undo the shirt buttons I’d just fastened. “We have dinner reservations andyouwere the one who promised we’d send Simone a selfie from the Colosseum first.” I rolled my eyes.
Taika kissed his way up from my neck to my ear, which never failed to make me shiver, and his eyes met mine in the bathroom mirror. “I changed my mind. Simone doesn’t need another selfie of us. Not nearly as much as I need to spend time with my boyfriend. It’s a holiday, after all.”
I tried hard to resist the warm challenge in his eyes, but in the two years we’d been together, I still hadn’t mustered any defense. In fact, I was pretty sure it was more effective than ever, maybe because he practiced it so much.
“A holiday? Do tell.” I leaned back against him and let him have his way with the buttons. He was right — Simone must have received half a dozen pictures of us at the Colosseum by now. We’d been to Italy three times already, and the posts I'd done were some of the most liked on my travel blog as well as my Instagram feed, probably because Taika kissed me sweetly in each and every shot, and my man was hella hot. “It’s a little late for Labor Day, baby.”
He wrapped his arms more tightly around my waist. “It’s National Boyfriend Day,” he said seriously. “And I read this really awesome post on how to celebrate.”
"No way." I laughed out loud. “Only you would remember that.”
“Number one,” he interrupted, his eyes brimming with laughter. “Take him out for a nice dinner.”
“Or better yet, stay in. Mhmm. You’ve got that covered. Good job.” I reached back and patted his hip, appreciating the feel of the hard curve under his jeans.
“Number two, do something he likes to do.” He rubbed against me, sliding his half-hard dick against my ass as he bit my jaw, and I sighed happily.
“Oh,nowI see your plan.” I turned in his arms. “Thatisone of my favorite things.” I threaded my hands into his dark hair and lifted his gaze to mine. “You know that, right? You’ve shown me the whole world, but wherever we go, my favorite part of every day is being with you. I love you,” I told him.
His eyes slid shut and he touched his forehead to mine. “I know.” Then he lifted his head and grinned at me again. “Just remember who said it first.”
“By hours!” I argued, scowling. “Like,twelvehours. The plane had barely taken off for Rome before I…”
“Number three,” he interrupted. “Tell your man thank you. Let him know you appreciate all the things he does.So thank you, baby.” He smiled warmly and my breath caught. Then he whispered against my lips, “My world is brighter every day because you’re in it.”
Even after all this time, it was still hard to believe that this life was mine, that by some twist of chance or fate, I’d gotten all the things I wanted and the things I’d never thought to want, too, but I had.
And I had a little red raffle ticket stub in my wallet to prove it.