Page 12 of vKissed By the Bartender

We stare at the stars for a long while. The lights twinkling from the town below make it even more mesmerizing.

“Can I ask you something,” he asks, breaking the silence.

“Anything,” I say, still dazed by the beauty of it all.

“If I would have said something in high school,” he pauses, “I don’t know. Told you I loved you, do you think we would still be here today? Together?

I look at him in shock. I need to find my words. I’ve wanted this for so long, and now that it is here, it feels strange. I love Joe, yes, that much is true. But knowing that he loves me means a whole different thing.

“I think so,” I mutter without thinking. “I mean, we can’t be sure, but Joe, I have always cared for you.”

There’s an uncomfortable silence between us for a moment.

“What about now?” I ask. “I mean, if I choose to stay, that is. If I am to stay, is there any chance I can stay with you? Find out what we missed out on all those years ago?”

“Candice, now that I have found you,” he leans in a little closer and whispers, “I will gladly follow you across the world if that’s what you want. I care for you deeply,” he says, moving closer. “Maybe even more.”

Our lips meet as we kiss passionately. There is nothing in life that can possibly be this good. We pull away and laugh, our mouths just inches from one another.

We both look over to the side where his cabin sits, inviting and ready for whatever might be in store within it.

Chapter 7

joseph

Ismile at Candice as I carry her to the cabin. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but my heart is beating quickly as if it’s about to take flight.

I look down at her. The moon shines on her supple shin. All I want is to kiss her skin, all of it, inch by inch. I want to feel what it could’ve been like between us all those years ago.

I want to feel what it could be like to be with her now.

With the swell of emotion rising in my chest, and the feel of her body pressed against mine.

Goddamn it.

Candice still knows how to leave me tangled up in knots, desperate for her.

I feel like a teenager all over again.

I swing her around to face me and our lips meet. She tastes like salt and honey. It tastes familiar; like something I have always known but never got to taste before.

When we pull back, she’s smiling at me. Her eyes are the perfect combination of colours as they dance in the moonlight. All of the years we spent apart, all of the time I spent pining after she feels like it’s led me to this moment.

To her.

I set her down and reach for the doorknob hesitantly. I don’t want to read too much into this situation, but I want to be with her, in every way possible.

I hope she has the same thing in mind as I do.

She leans in to kiss me again, jumping up and wrapping her legs around my hips.

I know that she feels what I feel, as it rubs against her through our clothes.

“Do you want to go inside?” I ask her.

“Uh, huh,” she breathes through the kisses. “Fuck, yeah, I do.”

I fidget with the knob, trying to open the door while kissing her. When I finally get it open, I carry her in but I accidentally bump her head as I walk through.

---