“Then I don’t see why we’re still dressed in your hallway.”
I pull his hand and take him to my bedroom, thankful I changed the sheets this morning.
Mik removes his sweater, leaving his T-shirt on. Then his jeans, boots, and socks go.
His underwear has a wet patch, thanks to the endless teasing. I did that.
“Are you doing to stare at it or play with it?”
“Shut up.” I push him onto the bed and cover his body with mine, taking his mouth again.
Between kissing, licking, and biting, we manage to get naked.
“Fucking finally,” he says, but pushes me off him so we’re sideways facing each other.
We look at our naked bodies. We’ve both changed so much, but somehow, the look in Mik’s eyes as he stares at me has the same intensity.
“You have tattoos.” I run my fingers over the words on his skin.
“Look closer.”
I trace the words on his ribs just under his heart. The words I wrote a million years ago.
“You tattooed my song.”
“It was the only way to keep you close.” He takes my hand and kisses my palm. “I tried to fuck you out of my heart, Ty. There’s only one thing in my life I’ve ever done right, and it wasn’t even out of choice.”
“Your daughter.”
He nods.
“After this one gig, I thought I saw you in the crowd. I called for you, but then you were gone. I was so angry because you were still around even after all those years. I usually picked up guys when I wanted quick, easy sex, but I couldn’t be with another man when all I wanted was you. So, I picked up a girl and took her to my hotel room. I thought we'd been careful, but nine months later, she reached out to tell me about Kay. She said she wasn’t ready to be a mom and was going to give Kay up for adoption. I couldn’t let her do that, not after looking into those big blue eyes and seeing something so small, so perfect. Everything became about her after that. I wrote a song for her.”
He turns around, and I see it on his back, directly over his heart.
“It was me that night,” I confess. “I’d been friends with Porter for a while, and I knew he wanted more. I wanted more, but I struggled with also wanting you because you were this thing I had to give up. I don’t know why I went there. I guess I just wanted to see you one last time. Of course I was shit-scared your dad would find out. After that, I started dating Porter, and a couple of years later, we got married.”
Mik caresses my cheek. “Were you in love?”
“Yes.”
“What did he die of?”
“Cancer.”
“I’m sorry, Ty. I’m sorry you had to lose everyone.”
I shake my head. “You’re still here.”
“I am.”
“Time for talking is over, Mik. We may only have today. Let’s just feel.”
“Ty…”
I shake my head. “I can’t promise you more, Mik.”
“Then let’s make it count.”
