We showered quickly and climbed in bed. The room was dark except for the moonlight. We opted to leave the music playing. Her head rested on my chest.
“Ducane?”
“Hhm? What is it?” I said, groggily pulling her closer, before pulling the covers over us as she snuggled into me.
“Nothing, I’ll tell you tomorrow.”
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll be right here.”
I woke up before him.
That almost never happened. Ducane had always been the early one, the one who was already gone before I registered the other side of the bed was empty.
I wanted to gloat. I had put it on his ass last night.
But reality was slowly creeping in. I opened my eyes to him on his back, one arm behind his head, breathing even and deep. I lay there for a minute just looking at him, wondering if I’d lose him again. I couldn’t lie and say I hadn’t been enjoying myself. Every second of this week had been exactly what I needed and more than I had let myself hope for. But it was almost over, and I didn’t know yet what over looked like this time. Last time over had looked like a decision I made alone in my dorm room after Christmas dinner. This time, I had a ring on my finger and a truth I hadn’t told him yet.
The ring caught the light when I moved my hand.
It was so damn beautiful. He was so damn beautiful. Such an amazing soul. I didn’t know how he came from his father. But Ducane had decided differently. I was proud of him for that.
This was our last day, so I got up, found his shirt on the floor, put it on, and ordered breakfast for us. I wanted to make the best of it. By the time I did that and cleaned myself up, Ducane was wrapping his arms around my waist and placing kisses on my neck.
“Hey, Mrs. Simmons. How did you sleep?”
“Not as good as you, Mr. Simmons. You didn’t go for your run this morning.”
“I got my workout last night.” He gripped my ass before heading out of the kitchen. “What’s the plan for our last day?”
“I want to soak up some sun, sand, and just chill.”
“Say less. You ain’t gotta lift a finger today.”
We ate breakfast, taking our time, trading bites off each other’s plates. Once we finished, we made our way down to the private cabanas lining the shore. The water was calm, the sun already adding ten degrees to the temperature. The island felt like it was giving us everything it had left before we had to go home and be real people again.
We had been out there a while, talking about nothing in particular, when Ducane stretched out and looked over at me.
“You were going to tell me something last night.”
The laughter settled. I looked at the water. He pulled my chin, making me look him in the eyes.
“If you vandalized my pops’ shit again, it’s cool,” he laughed.
I choked on my water. “Excuse me?”
“I’m just saying if that was you that egged the office that one time, don’t worry about it.”
“That was not me.”
“You sure? Because the description of the suspect?—”
“Ducane.”
“Short, natural hair, suspicious amount of knowledge about slingshots?—”
“I am going to need you to stop.” I was laughing and pointing at him. “That was not me. I retired.”
“Uh huh.” He was grinning. “Retired.”
