Page 104 of Last Night Was Fun

She spotted the familiar wave of Gabe’s hair, the frame of his shoulders where he stood out near one of the cliffs. He wore Chucks and jeans and a windbreaker that seemed like a better idea than her hoodie given she’d already wrapped her arms around herself forwarmth. She approached him feeling equal parts nervous and calm. She knew what she wanted, and she hoped they were on the same page.

She tapped his shoulder when she came up behind him. “Hey,” she greeted.

He turned, and the sinking sun bathed him in a warm glow like that morning they woke together in Mexico. “Hey.”

They stood there for a charged moment, and Emmy tried to read his face.

Instead of speaking, he reached out and pulled her mouth to meet his. The kiss was warm and soft and sent her blood looping through her body. It ached with a longing she couldn’t place, either a reunion or a goodbye.

She pulled back and touched her forehead to his. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

Gabe softly shook his head. “You first.”

Emmy looked deeply into his eyes and saw the same nerves she felt. The uncertainty over what she would say. But one of them had to jump first. She took a breath and found her footing then let herself fly.

“I think I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, and I want to see where this goes.”

The words were out, and with them, an enormous weight lifted. She’d thought about it all night, all morning while gardening—truly since the night they first slept together in Mexico. There was no turning back for her after that, and it felt good to finally tell him.

She waited for him to respond, feeling her heart beat in every inch of her body.

He let out a huge sigh of relief. “I thought you might pick the job, but I’m so glad to hear you say that, because I feel the same.”

She nearly sagged with her own relief; she had thought he might pick the job too. “You do?”

“I do. I wanted that job, but I want you more, Emmy. I’ve wantedyou for a long time. The truth is, I’ve been into you for years, but you never seemed interested, so I kept my distance. You are so smart and so... stubborn. And the way you look in computer glasses should be illegal.” He shot her a little grin that made her blush. “You challenge me at work and make me better at what I do. And you are remarkably kind and patient; I don’t know how you put up with me most of the time, but I’m thankful that you do. Honestly, I would trade anything to have a shot at being with you. I’ve never been able to talk to anyone the way I can talk to you. It’s so effortless. And I’m profoundly thankful the connection is even stronger in person.” He let out a sweet, embarrassed laugh. “When I started texting this random girl one day because of a fake number, and she turned out to be my dream girl, who then turned out to be you, when the shock wore off, I thought I’d won the fucking lottery. I want to see where this goes more than I’ve ever wanted anything.”

Emmy laughed and only then noticed that her cheeks were wet with tears. Gabe wiped them with his thumbs and then kissed her again. This time she wrapped her arms around him, and he lifted her off the ground. It was their deepest kiss yet. Full of truth and honesty and feelings so big Emmy feared she might explode. They kissed for what might have been an indecent amount of time in public, but perhaps not given they were standing in a place famed for marriage proposals and sunset kissing selfies.

When he set her back down, she stumbled a little. She gripped his arms and shivered against the wind that felt almost icy compared to the warmth of his body. She was nearly drunk with relief, with happiness, with a bittersweet acceptance of what she was giving up for what she was gaining. She smoothed her hands over his chest and felt his heart beating inside.

“Just to be clear,” she said in case her emotional brain was crossing signals, “we’re giving up the job to be together, right?”

Gabe let out a big breath and nodded. “Right.”

“And it’s what we both want?”

“Yes. It’s what I want. Is it what you want?”

She pushed up on her toes and pressed her hands to the sides of his face. “Gabe, I’ve never been able to talk to anyone the way I talk to you. I don’t think I would have had the guts if it hadn’t started with a fake phone number, but I’m so glad we’re here. You understand me, and you help me feel things I was afraid of. Before all this, I had beliefs about what I could and couldn’t have if I wanted certain things in life, but now I see there’s a balance. You’ve shown me I can open myself up to try to find it. I want to do this with you.”

He looked down at her with a warm smile and tucked back her hair blowing in the wind. “I want to do this with you too, Emmy.” He wrapped her in his arms, and she stayed there, happily huddled against his warm chest.

“I didn’t think it would be this chilly out here,” she said with another shiver.

“Come here.” He reached between them and unzipped his windbreaker and held it open. “Room for two.”

Emmy slipped her arms around him inside his jacket. He rezipped it with her inside. “Well, now I can’t see the sunset.” She said it to his chest where she’d buried her nose. She inhaled her favorite scent and rubbed her cheek into his soft shirt.

“Then turn around.”

She awkwardly shuffled her feet and rotated her body to face forward with her back against his chest. “Now I’m in a straitjacket.”

“Yeah, but it’s a warm straitjacket,” he said, and kissed her head.

“Right where you always wanted me, Axe Murderer.”

“You know my endgame now.” He hugged her to his chest and held her tight. She leaned her head back against his shoulder and stared out at the view. The sun had inched lower, now dipping its belly into the sea and shooting a streak of shimmering gold across the water.