Page 52 of The Biker and the Gamer
And then I tip up in my tough girl boots and kiss him.
My dream man.
Epilogue
Twenty months later…
"Okay, that wasweird."
Alec chuckles. "You said you wanted the full Bali experience, so…"
"Babe, the old guy was yanking the crap out of my toes. I wasthisclose to kicking him in the face."
He shrugs. "He belched repeatedly in my face and wiped his sweat all over me. I didn't think it was weird at all."
The twinkle in his eyes and the smirk on his face makes me mad, in a good way. He enjoys screwing with me.
"You're annoying," I snap at him.
He grins, pleased with himself.
We're on vacation in Bali. My pick. It’s both our first time here. Alec has been pretty much everywhere but said he’s never felt any desire to travel here before. Seeing as all the places we’ve traveled to so far was always my first time and his second, third, fourth or more, I figured this would be a perfect adventure—we’ll both get to experience a new country for the first time.
After we got back together almost two years ago, we had talked a lot about what we both wanted going forward, and how we could see to it that we were both satisfied and happy in our relationship.
One of the biggest things for me was to travel. Before I met him, it was the one thing I craved. Of course, now I cravehimfar more, but the hunger for traveling is still there.
So, we settled on a pragmatic plan: every four months, we would take a two-week vacation to travel somewhere. Sure, I had to get my boss to approve it, and we needed Cedric to get on board with it, but it all worked out. And now we have a happy, healthy relationship with lots of traveling and adventure.
We've been in Bali for a few days now, and so far, I'm not enjoying it. He isn’t either, but he only hints at this via sarcasm. His subtle way of saying,I told you so.
Our bodies sheened in sweat from the furnace of a healing shackle we were just in, he closes the gap between us and swipes his thumb in a swoop on my temple. He’s playing with my baby hairs again, which I'm sure are sticking to my forehead right now.
"I love when you brush your hair back like this and show me all of you," he says, smoothing his thumb along my hairline. "I don't get make-up free, baby-faced Kendra very often, but," he lowers his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "she's my favorite."
I roll my eyes and slap his hand away. "Leave me alone. My hair’s only up because it's hot as balls here."
"Soprettyandinnocent," he teases.
"Whatever." My attention shifts behind him where our personal tour guide and translator for the day, Naki, is waiting for us on his bicycle. He was recommended to us by Alec's parents who are also currently world travelers and have been here multiple times.
"What next, Naki?"
He smiles an irritably calming smile and nods gently. "Now we cleanse the soul. And become one with nature. Come now!"
My gaze shifts back to Alec. "The hell does that even mean?"
Alec turns to his own rented bicycle and kicks up the stand. "Lay us down in a trough of mud and have a covey of quail shit on us, probably. Hmm, what an amazing experience that will be. Can't wait!"
"Jerk," I mutter under my breath as I kick up the stand on my bicycle and climb on.
Naki rides ahead of us and we follow, the air stiff and humid. Despite our overly weird experiences here, I'd be remiss not to appreciate its beauty. Perfect people, lush greens, and an overall earthy feel. The people are open, warm, and kind. And the food is absolutelydelicious. Our favorite part of the day is whenever we get to eat, since we’re guaranteed delicious dishes.
"So," Alec begins as he cycles beside me, "what do you think of the healer saying we’re soulmates?"
Oh, boy. I was hoping he wouldn't bring that up. But he wouldn't be Alec if he didn't.
Another high recommendation by Alec’s parents was that we visit a spiritual healer. The experience would leave us with an “extreme euphoric high and soul centeredness,” they’d promised.
