Page 123 of All at Once

I’m still reveling in the dazzling scene, when “Bewitched” starts playing again, this time from his phone.

Silence. The air is filled with silence. Except for the song, that is. And the slightest cold breeze that’s perfect enough to brush through the front strands of Luca’s golden hair.

He reaches out his palm toward me, and when my fingers touch his skin, his thumb paints across my knuckles in a feather-like motion. He slowly pushes his fingers through the crevices of my skin, intertwining his fingers in mine, a spark cascading all the way down to my toes as I inhale.

Then I feel his other hand roam around my back, his fingers slowly and gently flattening across my skin. I exhale at the vibration as he pulls me in close enough to kiss.

I don’t know how to waltz, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t either.

But those are the movements we’re mimicking. As I take a step back, he moves forward, without our eyes ever slipping away from each other.

If I could cry right now, the tears would most likely still sparkle.

In fact, the tension is strong enough that adiamondcould form as his nose tickles the tip of mine.

There’s something about this song that always made me dream of shiny things. Objects that reflected shades of silver, gold, champagne, and anything that glimmered during the night sky. A reflection that’s so beaming, you could justtastethe romance. I’d dream of being in a scene like that. Where the imagery was strong enough that you could happily get lost in it.

But now. I can’t even picture any of those things. Because this moment is better than thatentiredream.

Luca continues to surpass my imagination when he lifts our intertwined fingers, before twirling me around, only to bring me in so quickly as he wraps both of his hands around my back. Andlowernow.

Hoping he kisses me, I close my eyes when he does somethingbetter.

His lips part before pressing along my collarbone.

I didn’t know a touch could feel this absent from my life. A flurry of comfort wandering across skin. A ray of sunshine beaming in the dark. A touch that demands your full attention, forgetting anything before this feeling was ever important. Now that I’ve felt it, I never want to go without it.

I lean in closer as I rest my head on his shoulder, wanting to relish these last few notes the song has left until it devastatingly comes to a close.

A four-minute-long song never sounded so short.

As I’m thinking this, “Untouchable (Taylor’s Version)” starts to play.

He remembered.

Our conversation from that same makeshift bonfire reverberates in my mind:

You know what’s one of my daydreams?…To dance with my crush in a fully lit gazebo to Taylor’s version of ‘Untouchable’ playing in the background.

Just when I thought my heart was about to burst, an influx of stars fills my eyes. I want to say something to him. But when my lips part, not one whisper drops. It’s too overpowering. The warm twinkle in his eyes. The wind gently blowing on the golden tips of his hair. The way his chest is slightly lifting against mine.

Luckily, my hands do the talking for me as they hold onto the nape of his neck, tightly pressing his warmth into me. I shiver when his cheek brushes along my neck, so close that the vibration of his pulse echoes onto my skin. Each second the heat builds in my stomach, the melody disperses around us like cosmic dust forming a galaxy.

As the final notes fade into the background, we stay on our constellation.

It’s too overwhelming. In thebestway. A moment tied to a song I wished for years to have. And this man just gave it to me after a fortnight.

When we finally pull away longingly, Luca looks at me, smiling, though bewildered. “What?”

My eyes must be wider than I thought. “This is the first time I heard both of those songs without daydreaming of being somewhere else,” I confess. “I guess there’s nothing left to imagine when something’s so breathtaking that even a fantasy couldn’t live up to it.”

He tilts my chin up. “I don’t think I’ll ever get over how your eyes light up when you’re excited about something. Every time it’s happened so far, my heart jumps a little. Like now,” he says, my heart now melting into glitter.

Luca’s lips are parted enough where I see a glimpse of his tongue pressing along the side of his teeth as he’s about to grin. He raises his brows, still perplexed, but also awestruck. “I just—” He pauses, and this alone doubles the desire in my eyes. “I can’t believe I met you,” he continues, shaking his head. “I always hoped I’d meet someone like you one day, but now. I can’t even articulate how happy I am to know you.” A nervous chuckle slips from his lips. “See, that didn’t even make much sense.”

“It madeperfectsense,” I say. “More sense than most things I say to you, that’s for sure.” I laugh.

The glimmer in his eyes is practically sparkling now. “You’re just everything. Andmore,” Luca exhales, while my mouth drops open again for God knows how many times since we’ve met. “My friends used to tease me all the time that romance didn’t exist. That it was always just this idea.” He smiles at my lips, before meeting my starry-eyed gaze. “I’m glad I didn’t listen.”

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