she sets the bowl of eggs in the middle of the table. Her arms then come around my shoulders, her cheek pressed to mine. “I wasn’t prepared for you.”
I turn my face slightly so our lips are almost touching. “Hooked you already, didn’t I?”
“You did,” she whispers.
“You two are gross,” Luna says.
Arlo’s smile touches her eyes as she looks at me. “I like being gross with you.”
I plant a big sloppy kiss on her, hearing the two girls gag and not giving a fuck. This is my house, and if they don’t like seeing the mushy shit, they shouldn’t get drunk and need a place to hide out from their parents.
“Eat,” I tell them. “And then showers. We have to be at Gram’s in a few hours.”
21
“Where are we going?” Arlo asks, wrapping her arms around my waist as I fire up the bike.
“Somewhere special.”
“But I thought we’d hang out with everyone,” she says in my ear, making herself heard over the roar of the engine.
I turn my head, looking at her over my shoulder. “I don’t want to share you all day, sugar.”
She smiles, her green eyes lighting up. “Okay.”
“Okay,” I say back to her, giving her a wink. “Hold on, babe.”
She tightens her arms around my middle and places her cheek on my back. I love this. The way she feels against my body, plastered to me like a second skin.
I move slower, weaving in and out of traffic less than I would if I were alone. I have precious cargo on the back, something I don’t ever want to injure.
There are still times, a decade later, when Carrie’s death creeps up on me and the guilt of not controlling the car crashes down, having the ability to suck me in. The times are fewer. The episodes shorter. But they still come and go.
I’ve never much cared about my own personal safety, but I worry about my friends, family, and now Arlo.
I take no extra chances, checking my surroundings more than usual and driving defensively instead of offensively. Is this what happens when you love someone? You change, even ever so slightly, to keep them safe from harm? If that’s what it means, I am there, and I’m more careful and mindful about her well-being than my own.
I take pleasure in every red light stop as she relaxes for a moment, kissing the back of my neck. And I fucking love every time the light switches to green, and her arms tighten again, tethering her to me.
The ride to the beach is entirely too short. Less than thirty minutes later, we arrive at a small patch of deserted sand as the sun hangs low in the sky, preparing for its nightly departure.
Arlo’s hands flatten on my stomach, her chest still pressed tight against me as she looks over my shoulder. “It’s so beautiful here,” she says after I cut the engine.
“I come here to think sometimes,” I tell her, looking out over the sand to the Gulf of Mexico with my feet firmly planted on the ground. “It’s the best spot to watch the sunset.”
She grips my shoulders with her hands as she pushes herself up and off my bike. She runs her fingers through her hair, trying to tame the wildness from the helmet. “It’s been a long time since I’ve come to the beach to watch it.”
I climb off, taking her hand in mine, and lead her toward the sand. “I thought this would be a good way to spend tonight. I wanted you all to myself where no one could find us.”
She squeezes my fingers, peering at me over her shoulder. “It’s perfect,” she says softly, her voice nearly drowned out by the crashing of the waves across the sand.
Halfway between the road and the water, I stop and plant my ass in the sand, pulling Arlo down with me.
Her back melts against my front with her hair blowing in the wind and her locks licking my face. This is a small slice of heaven in the middle of nowhere, with no one and nothing around us to interrupt.
“Are you comfortable?” I ask her, sliding my arm over her shoulder, holding her across the top of her chest.
She looks back, a smile gracing her perfect lips. “Very.”
“I’m sorry about my cousins last night. It wasn’t how I wanted the evening to go.”
“It’s okay. It was nice to see your entire family isn’t perfect.”
I laugh, brushing my lips across her neck. “They’re not perfect, sugar. Far