noticed that Izzie has tried to tone down her more outrageous traits while he’s around.
Fifteen minutes later they are gone and I’m waiting in the living room having finally given up on achieving a perfectly clean kitchen. When Zack knocks on the door a few minutes later, I yank it open right away.
He looks at me and then behind him. “Am I late?”
“No. I was just right here. That’s all.”
He follows me inside and I wait while he hangs his coat on the stand. Then he turns and pulls me into his arms. Our kiss quickly turns hot and I’m practically climbing him where he stands. He pulls back slightly and licks his lips.
“Missed me, huh?”
“Yeah. I have.” Suddenly hit with nerves after almost climbing down his throat, I lead him into the living room. “Do you want anything to drink?”
He claps his hands. “No, I think I’m good.”
I notice that he’s freshly shaved and he’s taken the time to change out of the T-shirt and jeans he usually wears under his coveralls at work. The jeans he’s got on now look brand new and his shirt is a button up. His hair has been buzz cut so it’s all the same length for once. It dawns on me then that he’s cleaned up for me.
He’s nervous, too.
“So, how was work today?” I sit on the couch and pat the cushion next to me.
“Good. I think we’re finally caught up for once. Gabe has been doing some of the admin stuff from home now that he’s feeling better.”
”That’s great. I had a pretty good day, too. I’ve been editing some of the photos I took of you that first day.”
That gets his attention. “Really? Can I see them?”
I smile to myself. This is perfect because he’ll have to come to my room. I couldn’t have planned that better.
“Sure. Come on. Some of them are pretty good.”
He follows me up the stairs and into my room. I close the door behind him and he sits on the bed while I open my laptop. The photo I was working on last is still open on the screen. I bring it over to the bed and angle the screen so he can see them.
“It’s strange to see myself this way. I’ve never really liked taking pictures.”
“You’re extremely photogenic. I’d love to get some shots of you the next time you shave your head. The tattoos on your head paired with the Mohawk are one of my favorite looks on you.”
He runs a hand over his short hair. “And here I’ve been growing it out thinking you’d like that better.”
It’s the first tacit admission that he’s been trying to please me. It’s a heady feeling to know that my preference matters that much to him. Especially since he rarely cares what anyone thinks.
I continue scrolling through the pictures, showing him all the ones from that first day and then the ones I took on our walk through the woods the day he apologized. My favorite is the one when I told him he was my first kiss. When we get to the end, there’s a new appreciation in his eyes when he looks at me.
“I am so proud of you, Josie. These are fantastic.”
“Thank you.” Plenty of people have told me I’m a talented photographer but it means something altogether different to hear it from Zack. Because I care what he thinks.
“Can I see more of your work?” he asks shyly.
“Sure, of course. I have tons of photo albums.”
I walk into the closet and stand on tiptoe to reach the albums on the top shelf. For years, I collected photos of everything around me. Nature, people, cars. Anything and everything. I was waiting for something to inspire me. It wasn’t until I started photographing families that I felt the connection I’ve always been missing.
The first book I pull down has shots of several of my parents’ friends with their kids. I flip through the first few pages, smiling at the images of children at play and parents sneaking a kiss while they thought no one was looking. Looking at these now, I can see all the technical mistakes I made back then. But the emotion in these pictures practically jumps from the pages.
I wander back into the room holding the book open to one of my favorite shots. “These are some of my earliest attempts. You might remember my friend Hailey from–“
Zack looks up from the photo album open on his lap. The album