Page 116 of Take It Offline
“Sure you don’t want to ask for something bigger?”
Being with him is like the swoop of turbulence. Something altogether scary and exciting. Unpredictable. And I can’t get enough.
I kiss him instead of answering.
“Do you enjoy it more one way or the other?” I ask. I want to make it good for him.
“I like both,” he says. “Depends on the day, how I’m feeling, who I’m sleeping with. I don’t have a problem with switching it up. Life throws enough shit at us to not find all the pleasure we can.”
“I think it’s time you showed me your list,” I tease.
He ducks his head, kisses and tugs on the tender part of my ear. Goose bumps flood my skin. “I’ll show you anything you want, sweetheart. Just know my list begins and ends with you.”
When the coffee is done, he fills two mugs without moving out of my reach. The coffee is good. But truly, I’m so blissed out he could hand me a cup of burnt tar, and it would taste like ambrosia.
“What would you do?” I eventually ask. “If you could do anything for your birthday?”
“I’ve heard Napa is wonderful this time of year,” he says, mimicking Logan’s voice.
I playfully nip at his collarbone. Getting a serious answer out of him is almost impossible.
With a chuckle, he relents. “I’m the wrong person to ask. Somewhere along the way, my paperwork got lost. Had to get a new birth certificate made up, and I meanmade up. The records at the hospital were so bad, they couldn’t find my actual birth date, so they just put one in. I have no idea whether it’s right.”
My heart aches for him.
“So,” he continues, very carefully not meeting my eyes. “I decided to make every day count. Hell, today could be my birthday. It might be the best one I’ve ever had.”
I know what you mean. Time with you feels like a gift.
Before I can blurt out something ridiculous, I kiss him.
“I think,” I start, the wish slipping out soft and low, “I could be happy doing anything or nothing at all, as long as you were there.”
He presses a kiss to my temple. “In that case, leave it up to me.”
I don’t think I could hold back my smile if you paid me to. “I’m in your capable hands.”
“You realize your phone takes photos too, right?” I tease when I ask about the Polaroid later.
Charlie appears at my back, kissing my neck and sending a thrill down my spine, and takes the camera from me.
“These are special. You get one shot, so you have to make it special. Have to make sure you only capture the really important stuff.”
With that, he steps around me, holds it up, and clicks.
It’s a few breaths before my heart remembers how to beat again.
“What’s this?” I turn to him, distracting myself with a worn red toy that looks like a child’s binoculars.
“You’re kidding,” Charlie pouts.
“What?” I huff a laugh. “I’ve never seen one before.”
It’s another sign of how differently we were raised.
“It’s a View-Master,” he says. “Go ahead. It won’t bite you.”
I bring it up to my face, and pull the lever, watching the slides change. It’s fascinating.
