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Wrapping his arms around me from behind, he whispered in my ear, “That was a nice surprise.”
My stomach fluttered. I would have to do that more often. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” he asserted. “But I need more pictures of you up there.”
“There’s only one of me.”
“You did that on purpose?”
I shrugged. “You told me there was only one of me. You never told me what that meant but I think it’s a good thing? I wanted to remind you.”
He nuzzled his nose into the side of my neck. “I don’t need reminding. I won’t ever need reminding. I’ll tell you exactly what it means. I knew you were going to turn my life upside down in a way no one else ever could. I knew, if I let you into my life, and you left, I would not be able to replace you.” He pressed his lips to the nape of my neck. “There’s only one of you.”
“Do you like having your life turned upside down?”
“Surprisingly.” He chuckled, his hands running up and down my sides. “What I don’t like is having only one picture of you on my wall.”
“We could rectify that,” I suggested.
I didn’t need to suggest it twice.
He herded me into his studio but didn’t make it past the first fifteen minutes before tossing the camera and flipping me onto my hands and knees.
Only the first photo made it onto the wall, but it was the last one that was his favorite.
Tonight, we were meeting at The Bard’s Bistro. Lucky and Minty booked the private lounge for what was supposed to be their ‘stag and doe’ but got revamped into a family event when Lucky hi-jacked her wedding plans, deciding they were going to Vegas.
Ares’ eyes appraised me as I came down the stairs, dressed for the big night. He wasn’t much for verbal compliments, but his eyes never left me guessing.
He held out his hand to me. “I want to show you something before we leave.”
Leading me to the picture wall, he pointed out several pictures, skipped past several others. “Do you see it?”
I wracked my brain but came up with nothing. “I’m sorry,” I said softly. “Can you explain it to me?”
Going back to the beginning, he pointed out pictures of his grandparents, Brayleigh, the new one of Viola, and the one of me. All taken by him.
“I took all of these.”
“Ares…you took most of these pictures.”
“Yes.” His face flushed pink, and he took me back to the beginning. “See my pappou here? And my yiayia?”
“Yes.”
“See how they’re looking?”
“Yes.”
“That’s how they look at Sia.”
“But they’re not looking at…” I petered off. “They’re looking at you.”
He swallowed but held my eyes bravely. “Yes.”
I looked back at the picture. Saw the love shining in their eyes. Saw the same in the next picture. And the next. The one of Viola. The one of Brayleigh. The one of me. Then backed up to the first picture.
“They’re looking at you. They’re loving you,” I affirmed.
