Like a friend, he looked between the both of us, his smile pure. “Yeah. You’re good.”
When he drifted away, too, I looked at Ayda and started towalk us both into the fresh night air, and I sucked in a much-needed breath as I glanced up at the stars in the clear night sky.
“Fuck,” I whispered.
Running her fingers under her eyes, Ayda let off a small tear-filled chuckle. “That’s one way of putting it. What a day.”
I rolled my head her way, reaching up to cup her neck as I blew out a heavy breath. “Tell me you’re okay.”
“Baby, I’ve never been better.”
“Jesus Christ, Ayda, I’ve never felt this much before. I’m raw… open, vulnerable… fucking broken apart,” I whispered, exposing all my truths. “And the weirdest part is that it feels like I’m finally living, you know? And that’s all because of you.”
“All those things you’re feeling, thatislife. That’s living. It’s what you’ve done for me.”
I didn’t wait. I moved and kissed her. I kissed her hard, my need to express everything I was feeling taking over as I curled myself around her and held her tight. My tongue slid over hers, the heat of our chemistry making me blind to the fact we were only a few feet away from so many people. I’d have taken her there and then if I could, but when a small shiver of delight ran over her body, making her shudder in my grip, I reluctantly pulled away, littering softer kisses over her face.
“Come ride with me, Mrs. Tucker.”
“With pleasure.”
We didn’t have a threshold there and then, but that didn’t stop me from scooping her up in my arms, enjoying the way she curled hers around my neck as I led her to my bike. With another kiss, I guided her down, and before long, the two of us were in a position we’d been in a hundred times before.
I guided my bike back, feeling the weight of love and responsibility at my back.
My wife.
My baby.
Arms wrapped around me and hearts pressed into my back.
With a squeeze of my hand around hers, I stared at the gates of the yard, and I sucked in a breath.
So much was changing, but these changes felt right. A forever without change means you’re stuck in the same place for far too long. We were meant to travel down different paths, and Ayda was the one guiding me into unknown territory, showing me how life could be lived if I opened my eyes and heart enough to let the good stuff in.
The Ayda kind of stuff.
I closed my eyes for just a second, thinking of Harry, Pete, and my mom. With a single thanks to each of them, I stared in front of me, focused on what lay ahead instead of what rested behind, and I led us both out of the yard.
To a home we hadn’t yet seen.
Down roads we’d yet to explore.
To a life waiting.
A life I knew would be more than I ever imagined it could be.