Shane and I are seated side by side on our favorite loungers out by the pool. The night is warm and a little muggy. Luckily, there’s been a light breeze that’s keeping things comfortable.
Still, I’m glad I have on thin navy shorts and a light blue tee. Shane is wearing shorts and a tee as well. Ironically, in the same colors.
As he fills my flute with champagne, I start laughing. Seems everything is funny tonight. I don’t drink too often, so the alcohol is really hitting me.
Good, I’ll be brave enough to bring up “us” and our status soon.
“What’s so funny?” he asks as he sets the bottle down on the ground on the other side of his lounger.
“Just…” I wave between us. “Don’t you think it’s kind of hilarious that we’re dressed almost alike? I mean, we didn’t plan it or anything. But we totally look like we work for some local bar and grill around here.”
Chuckling, he says, “Yeah, I guess you’re right. It is kind of a coincidence.”
“Or maybe”—I point my flute at him—“great minds just think alike.”
That makes him laugh.
I love that I can always make him smile so easily.
He does the same for me.
Damn, we really are such a great match.
And that, along with my liquid courage, gets me to ask, “Can I talk to you about something?”
“Sure,” Shane says. “You know I’m always here for you.”
My heart skips a little beat.
This man.
I take a small sip of champagne, then set my glass down on the little metal table between us.
Clearing my throat, I ask softly, “What’s happening between us, Shane?”
His lips press together, like he’s thinking, and then he responds, “Well, we’re two people who have become pretty damn good friends, and now we’re lovers.”
I sigh and tell him the truth. “I think I need more clarification than that.”
“Willa.” He reaches over and takes my hand. “What doyouwant us to be?”
I turn to my side to face him more fully and say, “I don’t know exactly, but I want us to be more than what you just said.”
“Do you want to be my girlfriend?” he asks, and damn, there’s a vulnerability in his green eyes that I’ve never really seen before.
I know then that he’s as afraid as I am. Hell, we’ve both been burned. Me in my last relationship, and him through being unlucky in love in general.
But I know I’m ready to move on. My once-broken heart is fully healed, and it’s because of this man next to me.
So, smiling, I reply, “Yes, I’d like to be your girlfriend.”
“Well, then you are.” He lets go of my hand, leans forward, and gives me a sweet kiss, as if to make it official. Settling back in his lounger, he adds, “See how easy that was?”
“It is always easy for us, isn’t it?”
Shane nods. “It is, and I love that about us.”
“I do too,” I reply.
