“To our lodge.” Her body stilled against mine as I continued, “I was drunk one night. It was after a tournament for anotherplayer, and he kept talking about how he was getting this tattoo for the girl he’d loved when he was nineteen. He was an absolute wreck. And I knew exactly how he felt.” My gaze caught on hers again. “I knew what it was like to never move on.”
“So, you got this…” Her finger slid around each digit, delicate and soft.
I closed my eyes and admitted, “It felt like a way to keep you close. All I had was the note, and this…it made the mark you left visible.”
She didn’t say anything. Instead, her hands tightened on my body, rolling over my muscles as she asked in a whisper, “Was there ever anyone else? You know, who came close?”
My head shook. “It was hard to get really close to anyone. With travelling for work, stable relationships were nearly impossible.”
“Just like we’d thought it would be?”
I nodded. It hurt to think that if we had tried back then, we might not be here. Might not be able to stand the sight of each other. From heartbreak or a separation gone sour.
“What about you?” I dared to ask, bracing myself for the worst news.
“Nobody. I tried, you know, to move on. A couple of times it almost got serious. They started talking about marriage or moving in,” she admitted, and I had to take a second to cool the jealous spike that suddenly pierced my heart. It wasn’t fair, but it stung nonetheless. “I put them off for as long as possible, trying to keep them at arm’s length, convincing myself I needed time.” A pregnant pause followed before she continued, “We were smart to know that wouldn’t work for us,” Kit finalised with a small smile. “I assume you’re not planning on staying in town for very long?”
“No,” I admitted. “If Scottie agrees, I’ve got a training camp in Rhodes I’d like to take her to. I’ll be back. I don’t want to lose you again.”
“I don’t want that either,” she said. “I’m willing to make this work.”
Before, we were trapped between our careers and each other. Now, older, what we wanted from the future was more aligned. She was in a better place. There wasn’t anything keeping us apart.
“What about Scottie?” I asked. “Do we tell her we know each other? I don’t think lying would help.”
She shook her head. “It’s not lying. It’s been years. Do we really know each other anymore?”
I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from responding too quickly. Even with all the time that had passed, she still had the same laugh, the same face. She was the same Kit I remembered. After thirteen years, I had found her.
I couldn’t let that go easily.
But I knew there had to be some truth to her words. I wasn’t the same man, but I was willing to put in the time to get to know this version of her. I’d trace the faint lines across her face, commit them to memory just as I’d done the curves of her body. Kiss each new mark and learn all their secrets.
Talking to her had always been easy. If it had taken me only eleven days to fall for her the first time, surely this could be the same.
“I want to,” I admitted. “With Scottie, I need to see that through. I might not have known about her father, but I was a cog in the machine. I failed her, and I want to make it right.”
“I understand. But she was made for more than she’s doing now. Maybe you can come back tomorrow, talk to her yourself.”
“I can do that,” I answered, squeezing her tightly. We were going to do this. Give us a chance. “She knows me by Jon, by the way.”
“Jon. How very American of you.”
“What can I say?” I said, “I didn’t feel much like going by Jonah. It didn’t sound right after you.”
Every time I heard my name, it stung. Missing her accent, my name rounded and drawn out, almost melodious. So, Jon I’d become. Even my family noticed a shift, said Jon suited me after my time away despite being unable to put their fingers on what had changed and why.
I knew it was her. Her fingerprints left all over me. The heartbreak she’d left me with. Nobody had called me Jonah in years. Not until I arrived on her doorstep.
“I’m so glad you met her,” I admitted. “Scottie, I mean. I know how much that must mean to you.” Seeing Kit now, I could tell she was her entire self. Even at the lodge, I could see the pain she carried with her. Now, she seemed lighter. Complete.
“I’m glad you found her too.” Her voice nearly broke as she carried on, “If you hadn’t, then she might still be with her father. She wouldn’t know what he had done.” Her eyes met mine. “And in a way, you saved me too.”
My arms tightened, rolling her body into mine. “You set me on my own course. I needed you so much more than I ever knew.”
Her breath warmed the skin of my chest, our legs tangled beneath the sheets. For a moment, there was only the soft hum of her breathing, the weight of everything unspoken pressing gently between us.
“I guess it was always going to come back to this,” she whispered.
