“I don’t know. As long as it’s not a clown, I’m good.”
“Or spiders.”
“You think he’d fill our room with spiders just to surprise us?” Bodhi asked, laughing. “That’s messed up.”
“You think he’d fill it with clowns?”
Bodhi grabbed me from behind and lifted me from the ground. “You’re such a lively cowgirl.” His lips found the curve of my neck and I squealed my approval. This was bad, really bad. I needed to dial down the flirty behavior. It was just too easy with him. Too natural. But, of course, I knew it was absolutely criminal to encourage such behavior when, by the end of the night, Bodhi and I would be no more.
Just a little extra time, that was all I was asking for. Just a little more of his hands up my… no! Focus. Wiggling free, I yanked down my shirt, dislodging his wandering fingers, before playfully shoving Bodhi away from the door. “Move it! I’ve got to see this surprise. Something tells me your dad doesn’t do anything half-assed.”
And I was right. I pushed through the door with Bodhi on my heels and stopped dead in my tracks. Right smack dab in the middle of the luxury suite sat a camping tent.
“You’ve got to be kidding.” Bodhi breathed.
Even for a pampered popstar, this was a special treat, and not anything like the camping I was used to. No clingy dirt or sticky marshmallow residue. No sleeping bags. And best of, no ant trails or late night dances to the public restrooms.
Bodhi took my hand and we ducked inside the canvas teepee where a plush queen-sized bed waited, made up with Egyptian cotton sheets. And past that, the flap on the back was pulled aside, revealing an oval shaped Jacuzzi bathtub with candles lining the ledge
“Wow,” Bodhi said as he peeked his head out the back. “You gotta see this.”
To my amazement, the patio had been done up like a campsite, with a wood burning fire pit. Unlike the raging inferno we’d survived, these flames were submissive and firmly under control. Yet, that didn’t stop my pulse from quickening as the memories flooded back. Bodhi seemed to sense my fear and, lifting my chin, he rested his forehead against mine.
“It’s all right, Breeze. Just breathe.”
Tears slipped down my cheeks at the irony. We’d started with fire, and now we’d end with it as well. Except I didn’t want it to end. Not ever.
Wrapping my arms around his waist, I held him tighter than I think I’d ever held anyone before. Surviving the fire had reworked our wiring, forged a connection that transcended the physical. And even though I’d made the decision to say goodbye, I wondered if we’d ever truly be separated.
“Look,” he whispered, and I followed his gaze to the vastness of the ocean. Water as far as the eye could see, shimmering gold and silver beneath the low hanging moon. I’d lived a stone’s throw from the Pacific Ocean my whole life and never seen it so tranquil. It was as if the universe was conspiring against me. Whispering promises of forever, when forever wasn’t meant to be.
“Tucker thought of everything.” Bodhi broke the quiet reflection. “He even dropped off my guitar so I can woo you with my music.”
My heart sank. Now I had to listen to him sing, that melodic voice that had worked its way into my soul.
I might as well give up now. Maybe it was best to just enjoy tonight and deal with the tough stuff in the morning. One more idyllic night with the man of my dreams and then the sun would rise and it would be Thursday. My favorite day. Only it wouldn’t be. Not ever again. Not after I broke us to pieces.
Sinking into the oversized chair on the spacious patio, I wiped away the last of my tears and made peace with the hypnotic flames dancing before me while Bodhi tuned his guitar.
Slotting his thumb on the neck, he cradled the instrument against his body like a father would his child. Did Bodhi want kids someday? And who would they call mommy?
As the music floated to my ears, I let my head fall back. But then Bodhi began to sing, effortlessly drawing my gaze. He didn’t notice, fingers gliding over the strings and eyes shut tight. Music healed him, righted all the wrongs. Even though I couldn’t survive in his musical world, he belonged there. And I’d rather leave him than ask him to give it up.
A sweet melody drifted through the night sky and I melted in my seat, smiling at the familiar chorus.
“The song from the car,” I said softly. “I love this one.”
He nodded without missing a beat. And in that moment, I knew he was a talent far beyond the world his father had created for him.
I could see him in a smoky bar, on a small stage, with just his guitar. In my mind, I was there too, sitting in the first chair below the microphone, cheering him on.
That’s how I envisioned life with Bodhi. Him and me and music. In a perfect world, that could be us. But if today had proven anything, it was that perfection was impossible to find.
Bodhi played two more songs before propping his guitar against the sliding glass door and squeezing into the space beside me. Once he’d rearranged me so I was partially on his lap, I settled in and laid my head on his chest. “Who’s the girl from the song?”
Bodhi lazily rolled strands of my hair through his hands. “Her name is Beth.”
“Are you still in love with her?”
