Page 330 of Eternal
I don’t care. I kiss her anyway and she kisses me back like she’s been waiting to. Like I’m not a monster. Like maybe we’re the same kind.
Then, the speaker cracks. “Uh… hey. Your order’s ready.”
We break apart, laughing into each other, forehead to forehead.“Thank you,” I call out, not even trying to hide the amusement in my voice.
Azra leans past me, still laughing. “Yeah, sorry. Thank you so much.”
I take the bag. The smell hits immediately, warm, spicy, hers. I throw it into the backseat and shift into drive.
We pull out of the lot and head toward the edge of the city.
The roads get quieter, the sky darker. I reach over and take her hand without looking, she laces her fingers through mine like it’s muscle memory.
We’re going back to the beach.
By the time we pull up near the beach, she’s already kicking off her shoes when I park, then she unbuttoned her pants.
I blink. “What… what are you doing?”
She laughs like I’m an idiot. “The pants are too long.”
I stare. “Okay?”
“And we’re at the beach!” she says, wiggling out of them like this is the most obvious thing in the world. She’s got this long shirt on that falls low enough to cover her, barely, and she’s grinning when she’s already halfway into the sand.
I shake my head, but I’m smiling too. “You’re ridiculous.”
“I don’t want my pants to be all dirty.”
The night air is colder than I thought it’d be. She shivers once and doesn’t say anything, but I notice. I always notice. I slip off my jacket and drape it over her shoulders.
She pauses for a second, long enough to look at me with that face, not surprised, puresoftness.
“Thanks,” she says, quieter now.
“I’ve got a blanket in the back.” I grab it and toss it over one arm as we head toward the sand, her barefoot, me still fully dressed like a responsible idiot.
I lay the blanket down in a spot far enough from the tide, still within view of the stars. She plops down with a dramatic sigh like she’s waited all her life for this exact moment, and starts digging through the bag while I sit down next to her, knees pulled up, body angled toward her more than the waves.
I can’t help it, I’m watching her like she’s the whole scenery.
“How is it?” I ask.
She doesn’t look up right away, she holds the burrito to her chest like a treasure and smiles. “It smells sogoooood,” she says, dragging the word out, eyes wide with exaggerated bliss. Then she looks at me, cheeks puffed from laughing again. “This might be the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
I raise a brow. “You’re happy?”
“Hmm I am,” she says, mouth full now.
And I watch her eat, with hot sauce on her lips and bare legs tucked under my jacket, and I think to myself that maybe this is what heaven must look like.
Pretty eyes. Dirty laughter. A beach at midnight. And her, alive and eating her food happily.Mine.
We’ve been sitting on the blanket long enough that the chill's starting to sink in, but she hasn’t moved. She's still eating, eyes on the waves, legs tucked under my jacket. Moonlight’s catching in her hair.
“I just realized,” I say, voice low, breaking the silence. “It’s been almost a year since we’ve met, and I still don’t know when your birthday is.”
She pauses, not looking at me yet. “Why do you want to know?”
