Miles jumped up and shook hands with Mike and me, Luke following after, glaring at his wife. “Glad you could make it, guys. The girls put this together in about fifteen minutes last night, with obvious ulterior motives.”
“It’s called being nosy,” Leyla joked as I stepped back to pick up my stuff and headed to the blanket.
“Thanks for the invite. Needed some sun after being locked up,” Mike said, lifting his cast.
“Sorry to hear about your arm, man. That’s tough,” Miles said. “Casts are the worst. MJ needed one in first grade. Had to get creative when it started itching. MJ, come meet Mr. Mike and Mr. Niko.”
MJ waved but went back to playing with Dean.
“She has her hands full keeping him from eating the sand,” Leyla explained, her hand tucked into mine.
“We got enough food for an army, guys. Help yourself,” Sofia said, laying out containers on the blankets.
Leyla and I had filled our plates with tacos, street corn, and rice, then sat together hip-to-hip.
“I can’t stop looking at you,” I confessed. She blushed and leaned her head on my shoulder. We ate and talked with our friends, watching Dean and MJ run around us.
“You’ve made me very happy, Niko.” I could feel my chest swell with overwhelming happiness. She adjusted to face me. “But do you think we might be moving too fast? I mean, is this too fast for you?”
My eyes roamed over her lovely face as I continued smiling. When I didn’t answer right away, she bit her bottom lip and looked down.
“Come with me,” I said, standing and holding my hand out. Without questioning me, she took it, and I brought her to her feet.
“We’re going to take a quick walk,” I announced to the group, making Mike whistle loudly like the maniac he was.
“Where are we going? Did you need a break from everyone?”
“No, I just wanted to show you something. Alone.” We walked further down the beach, and when I found a place somewhat empty, I pulled her toward me. “I want to answer your question.”
She squinted up at me. “About moving too fast?”
I nodded and slowly pulled my T-shirt up and off.
Her eyes roamed my face, likely trying to figure out what I was doing. Then her eyes snapped to the ink on my chest, and she gasped.
“My wave,” she said, grabbing her pendant. Her thumb rubbed the raised design as her other hand traced the identical wave on my chest. I took a deep breath when she made contact.
“Niko. That’s mywave. I, I don’t understand,” she stuttered, looking into my eyes with confusion.
I hadn’t intended to show her my tattoo right away, but I didn’t want a moment to pass without telling her what she meant to me.
“When I met you in college, on that very first day of class, it was like a thunderbolt had struck me. As the weeks and months went on, I was in awe of how you moved through the world. You were sunshine and joy, laughter and love. Everyone was drawn to your light. No one was immune to it.”
She teared up and shook her head. “Niko.”
Slipping my shirt back on, I said, “When I finally got lucky and was assigned as your lab partner that junior year, I felt like I’d won the lottery. Talking to you, debating with you, learning from you, and sharing our love of science gave me hope, Leyla. You didn’t even know I was neurodivergent, yet you accepted me.
“Your sunshine affected me. I figured that if you could accept me the way I was, there was hope that God could bring a woman into my life who would love me for me, just like I said to you last night.”
Leyla’s tears were falling, and her lip quivered as she took my hand.
“I never thought for a second I’d have a chance with a woman as wonderful as you, no matter how much I wanted it. Even after things fell apart with us and all that mess happened, I wanted to keep the feeling with me. Hope, joy, your sunshine. So after we graduated, I got the tattoo. To remind me of what was possible.”
She dove into my arms with a sob. “You beautiful, wonderful man.”
I pulled her in close and held her until she quieted, whispering words of adoration in her ears.
Leyla pulled away, putting her hands on my cheeks again, something I was growing to love, and said, “I can’t believe you got a tattoo like this. Of something that meant so much to me.”
