Page 63 of The Art of Loving Ellie

“So,” Tyler says as we observe my painting together after everyone has left. “I think it’s safe to say that I’m this handsome fella, right?” He points to the man in the painting and elbows me playfully in the ribs.

I turn to look at this silly man, who drives me crazy in every sense of the word. His hair is a little unkempt, and his undershirt is a bit ruffled, but everything about him makes my heart beat a little bit faster. I reach out to take his hand in mine, and I meet his gaze as I try to express all the emotions I’ve kept bottled up inside of me for so long.

Without needing further explanation, he wraps his hand around the hair at the nape of my neck, and brings me to him for another kiss—making my toes curl in anticipation for the rest of our evening.

He barely breaks contact to whisper to me, “I love you, Ellie.”

“I love you, too.” I smile against him, and he kisses me again.

We close up with Alexandre, say our goodbyes, and as we make our way out of the venue and into our new lives together, I contemplate all of the valuable life lessons Tyler has given me.

I’d like to think that the most important thing he could have taught me, wasn’t how to be a good girlfriend, or even how to be good at loving him in general—it was how to be good at loving Ellie.