Page 71 of The One Where They Fall in Love

“Oh my God!” she screams, wrapping her arms around my neck. I curse into her chest. She starts to move, pressing her hips against me as she rides me, the friction of it all-consuming. My hands splay against her back and I play with her nipple in my mouth, licking and teasing until her movements take my breath away.

She slows and flips her hair over her shoulders, so I can see a beautiful smile spread across her face. I chuckle as I kiss her, feeling her smile against my lips.

“I love you,” I whisper, moving so I can place a kiss below her ear. Her hips move faster again, so she can only manage to mouth the words back to me. I grip her tighter, as if that could make this moment last longer.

Elle cries out as I feel her tighten around me, making me explode at the same time that she screams. I feel her vibrate against me, and I hold her clenching ass as she rides out her release, her hips moving over me as she moans into my ear.

We ride the waves together, shivering and embracing each other, kissing and whispering until we regain our breaths.

We lay there for hours, touching, kissing, talking, one or both of us falling asleep before the other wakes up witha hunger that can only be satisfied by the other. At some point, a little before dawn, Elle rests her head on my chest and squeezes her arms around me, a firmness in her grip. I nod my head towards her, curious at the change in her position.

“I want you to know something,” she whispers. I can feel her lips move against the skin of my stomach.

“Mmm?”

“I’m not going to get scared away.” She turns her head to look up at me, her chin resting on my ribs. I fold a blonde curl behind her ear. “You were so afraid that I wouldn’t be able to handle all your crazy. But I have crazy of my own. And maybe that’s why this is different from anyone else before. Because your crazy matches my crazy.”

The corner of my mouth lifts up. I pull her up to me, until our foreheads are touching, and she is laying over me completely. She kisses me gently, her lips moving over mine like she can’t get enough of the taste. Lucky for me, neither can I.

Epilogue

Oliver

“This seems like some touristy shit to me,” I tell Elle as she drags me down 57th Street.

“Just because you like to call yourself a New Yorker now doesn’t mean I can’t show you touristy shit sometimes,” she says, pulling me by the hand through a crowd of people.

It’s the middle of July in Manhattan, which means it is hot and smelly and disgusting. But of course, none of that bothers Elle, because she has a plan in her head, and I’m just the guy who knows that I’m going to go along with it, whether I want to or not.

The street is absolutely packed with people—some with tripods, some with selfie sticks, but all with their phones out, which is both depressing and really fucking annoying. Elle made us leave our phones at home for this reason. We wouldn’t be the gawkers recording this moment. We would be the observers watching it.

Again, I just work here.

She finally finds an acceptable spot on 57th and 8th, which wasn’t her ideal spot, but we couldn’t make it further East in time. I personally don’t think the exact location makes that much of a difference, but when it comes to Elle’s plans, my opinions don’t really matter. Which I’m fine with. I love when she takes the lead. She calls them her main character moments.

She likes to tell me that we’re the main characters of our own stories. I tell her that I don’t care about any story that isn’t hers. But in truth, she has changed my story. For the better. In every way possible.

After quitting residency, I started working as a paramedic for the FDNY while applying to Physician Assistant programs in the Northeast. I haven’t told my father about becoming a P.A. because I don’t want him to have anything to do with it. We haven’t even spoken since I left my residency at Mount Sinai, but my mom has come to the city to meet Elle. She claims that my father needs time to get past things. I argue that he needs time to recover from the blow to his ego, that he will not have a legacy of Dr. Coles to follow him. I’m sure we’ll find a new version of normal, I’m just not sure when, or what that will look like. Elle would love to make that a project of her own, but I refuse to let her. She doesn’t have to solve the world’s problems. And she’s starting to learn that.

One thing Elle has taught me is that it is okay to accept help. She wants me to try speaking to someone about my panic and OCD again, and I think one day soon I will. In the meantime, I have found a medication that is helping with my obsessive thoughts. I’ve resisted it for so long, but Elle has a way of changing my perspective on things. And Iwant to feel better. I want to be in control of my own mind. Not just for her, but for me.

Elle stops in the middle of a crowd of people and turns to face the street. She’s wearing a tank top with one of her silly sayings on it. Today’s is:“If I can’t bring my dog, I’m not coming.”Which is very true in most instances, including this one. I look down at Thor who is pitter-pattering his feet next to Elle. He has no idea what is going on, but he is excited about it nonetheless.

“Ready?” Elle asks, looking up at me. Her long curls are in a ponytail that reaches down to her back, and it sways when she turns her head.

“Ready for what?”

She looks down at her watch and grins. That can’t be good. I follow her gaze to the streetlight in front of us. When it turns red, Elle throws herself on my back, wraps her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck.

“Hurry up! Run to the middle of the crosswalk!” she yells, hitting my shoulder. Thor jumps up on my leg, excited by what Elle is doing.

“What? Why?” I say, putting my hands under her thighs so she doesn’t slide off of my back.

“Just do it!Go!”

I run to the middle of the bustling two-way street with a woman on my back and dog at my side. I stop in the middle where a crowd of people with phones and selfie sticks surround me.

“Now what?” I ask, looking around.