32
SELENA
FLASHBACK
Kai was in a good mood today. I loved seeing him this happy. His happiness made me happy. It was simple. Stupid. Ours.
We ordered pizza. Cheap pizza. The kind with too much grease that we pretended was amazing. He answered the door in his boxers, grabbed the boxes, and stumbled back to the couch.
"Food's here!"
"I can see that."
He sat beside me and elbowed me, reaching for a slice. "Move."
"You move."
"You're in my space."
"Your space is my space. I'm your future husband."
I laughed. Actually laughed. "Bold of you to assume."
"Not an assumption. A fact." He pointed at me with a pizza slice. "You're stuck with me."
"We'll see about that."
"We will. Forever."
We wrestled on the couch. Flailing. Giggling. Stupid. He pinned me eventually and smiled down at me.
"I win."
"You cheated."
"Can't cheat at wrestling. There are no rules."
I smiled up at him. This idiot. This beautiful, stupid, wonderful idiot. "I love you," I said.
He kissed my nose. "I love you too."
Later, we made love. Slow and soft and real. After, we lay tangled together, pizza boxes forgotten.
"Kai?"
"Mm?"
"Do you think we'll always be like this?"
"Stupid and happy?"
"Yeah."
He pulled me closer. "Even stupider. Even happier."
I smiled into his chest. "Promise?"
"Promise."
His phone buzzed. He glanced at it. Sat up.
"I have to go."
"Now? There's a storm coming. They said on the news—"
"I'll be fine." He kissed my forehead. Too quick. Got up. Dressed.
I watched him go. "Be careful," I called after him.
He didn't answer. The door closed.
I sat there for a long time. The pizza grew cold. The storm came. Thunder rolled across the sky, and rain hammered against the windows. But that wasn't what destroyed me. It was the quiet. The knowing. The familiar ache of watching him walk toward something that wasn't me.