We drifted up the hill of Hampstead Heath, hand in hand. The sun low in the sky, the air and the earth still carrying the heat of a summer’s day.
“Do your parents often fight like that?” I asked, as we followed along the path.
“Only about work.”
“It must be terrible not to be able to trust your partner like that.”
“Just quietly, I think they enjoy it.”
We paused by a bench and looked back out over the view across London, the glass towers in the distance shining golden in the light of the setting sun. I pulled Ludo’s body closer to mine and rested my hands on his hips, putting my fingers through the belt loops of his chinos. He put his hands around my neck.
“You know I trust you completely, don’t you?” I said.
“I know you do. And I trust you too.”
The lights of the city reflected in Ludo’s glasses. As if reading my thoughts, he gently took them off and slipped them into his pocket. I looked into his inky-blue eyes and brushed a rebellious black curl behind his ear.
“I love you, Ludo,” I said. And my heart felt full for saying it.
“I know,” he said. “I love you, too, Sunny.”
“I know,” I said.
Ludo’s lips gently brushed against mine, sending electricity through my entire body. I kissed his bottom lip, teasing it. He ran his hands up through my hair. We kissed, and everything about it felt right. I loved Ludo with every cell in my body. When our lips finally parted, we rested our foreheads together. Ludo smiled that beautiful, fat-cheeked, chipmunky smile, and I smiled right back. I had never felt so whole.
Epilogue
Ludo
We awoke, suddenly and unexpectedly, to Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe” at eardrum-shattering volume. I slapped an arm out towards the bedside table to find my phone and knocked over my glass of water, drenching my battered, weathered, and decidedly unread copy ofWolf Hall.
“Oh, bloody hell,” I said. I felt the warmth and weight of Sunny’s body on my back as he leant over me, his naked skin against my naked skin. I’d adopted Sunny’s night-time attire and had started wearing just pants to bed. Mostly because I liked to feel his body against mine when we cuddled. Sunny grabbed my phone and glasses and handed me both. I turned off the alarm.
“I have no idea how Jonty does it,” I said. “My phone is locked.”
“Do you want me to show you how?” Sunny asked.
“You know how to break into someone’s phone? Is this some dirty tabloid skill you’re now taking to a respectable programme like the BBC’sCompass Point?”
“VladPop showed me how to do it. It’s pretty simple.”
“We should get up,” I said, kissing Sunny’s plump blush-pink lips. “Happy anniversary, baby.”
Sunny smiled. “Two months. Where did the time go?”
“Let’s get up. I have a full day planned.”
“You haven’t told me what we’re doing,” Sunny said.
“That’s generally how surprises work.”
I climbed out of bed and looked at the watery mess on the bedside table. I picked up my signed copy ofWolf Halland dropped it into the wastepaper basket, then opened the summer house curtains. It was a bright, beautiful late summer’s day.
“Perfect weather for the seaside,” I said, dropping a subtle hint.
“Yes! Penny arcade!” Sunny said. “Get in, son.”
***
