Page 35 of Moments in Ink

“Thank you. Because I’m truly going to need that.” I squeezed her hip again. “Now, let’s fuck some more, and then we can clean up this mess. I have no idea how much paint is going to come out of my hair. I did recently bleach it.”

“Oh, fuck,” Zia said, laughing, her eyes wide. “Maybe we need to shower now.”

“Yeah, probably. Going into work with whatever the fuck color my hair is right now is likely a really bad idea.”

“It’s okay, we can totally fix this,” Zia said, lifting me up to my feet. We slid around on the paint, laughing.

“Well, my boss did comment on my ink and about how it looked great. So, maybe they won’t mind if I have random-colored hair.”

“Even if you look like Rainbow Brite?” Zia asked, and I froze.

“What?” I asked quickly.

“Nothing, baby. Let’s get you inside that shower and see what we can do.”

“Zia. What did you do to me?”

“Nothing at all. I love you.” And she ran off to the shower, leaving paint footprints on her tile.

“Is this so I move in with you? We’re going to trash your house so we can’t sell it?” I asked, following her.

“I told you, I always win!” Zia said, the shower running.

I shook my head, cleaned up the paint after her, grateful it wasn’t permanent according to the box, and shook my head again.

Somehow, I had fallen in love with a bright light that changed everything. I wasn’t lost in the darkness anymore. I wasn’t searching for what could have been. I had found it.

I had found her.

And I wasn’t hiding anymore. Wasn’t searching.

I didn’t need to. I had Zia.

My moment. My person. Mine.

THE END