Page 134 of Remember Us This Way

Zoey and I move so perfectly together that it’s clear we were made for one another. Her hand rests against my chest as we dance in the moonlight, my hand low on her back. “Tell me you didn’t walk here,” I say, my lips moving against her temple.

I hear the smile in her tone. “I can barely walk across my living room. I’m not stupid enough to try and walk all the way here,” she tells me, gently lifting her head and meeting my gaze. “I stole Hazel’s hoverboard and rolled my ass here.”

I grin down at her, picturing this beautiful goddess in her silver gown flying down the street on a hoverboard. “You know, I would have paid to see that, right?”

“If you’re lucky, I might just let you see it for free.”

I can’t help but laugh as I drop my lips to hers and kiss her as we dance through the park with the starry Arizona sky as the perfect backdrop.

When she pulls back and rests her head against my chest again, she lets out a heavy sigh, clearly deep in thought. “What’s wrong?” I ask, my hand moving up and down her back.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she whispers in a small tone as if still considering whether she’s going to say anything. “I was just thinking about you and me, and what I’ll be leaving behind.”

“Zo—”

“No,” she says, cutting me off, gazing up at me with such a deep love in her eyes that it almost brings me to my knees. “It’s just . . . After I’m gone, when you think about us and how we were together, I want you to remember us this way. Not the pain of losing me or the long days in that treatment center. I want you to remember these moments that were so unbelievably perfect that you took my breath away and left me feeling so overwhelmingly in love with you.” She holds my gaze, pausing for just a moment. “Promise me, Noah. Promise me you’ll remember us this way.”

Dropping my forehead to hers, I swallow hard, trying to gain some semblance of control over the wild emotions burning through my body. “You have to understand, Zo, I never planned on you being a memory. When you’re gone, and I have to say goodbye, it’s going to destroy me. I don’t know how I’m going to survive it, but I promise, when the time comes that I’m able to think back and remember our life together, when just the mention of your name doesn’t tear me to shreds, I’ll remember us just like this.”

Those beautiful green eyes fill with tears, and she pushes up on her toes again, kissing me gently before settling back into my arms. “Thank you,” she whispers just as the song comes to an end and shifts into something new. “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran.

As the opening lyrics sound through the park, I feel Zoey’s smile against my chest, and I realize just how well-suited this song is to this very moment. Every single lyric hits home. “I’m pretty sure this song was made for us.”

Zoey laughs and snuggles in closer to my chest. “You’re cheesy, Noah Ryan.”

“Says the one who gave me the puppy dog eyes saying that all she wanted was to dance with me on prom night,” I grin. “You knew what you were doing when you said that.”

Her grin stretches wider across her face, and I realize just how right I was. I was taking a shot in the dark when I said that, but her grin is nothing but a blunt confirmation. No one’s ever claimed that Miss Zoey James wasn’t sneaky as all hell. She’s a master manipulator in the best way, and I fucking adore that about her.

Two songs are all she can handle before we find ourselves sitting in the grass. Zoey sits between my legs, her back resting against my chest as my arm remains locked around her waist, holding her against me.

Her gaze lingers on the twinkling sky, watching the world pass us by. “Do you believe in reincarnation?” she asks.

I shake my head. “I don’t know,” I tell her. “I don’t think I’ve ever really thought that hard about it.”

“Yeah, me either,” she says. “But I’ve been wondering about it these past few weeks, like if it were true, what I’d want to come back as, and I can’t stop thinking that I’d want to come back as a bird.”

A smile pulls at my lips, and I drop my head, pressing a kiss to her shoulder. “Out of all the things you could potentially come back as, you choose a pigeon?”

“No,” she laughs, jamming her elbow back into my stomach. “Not a dirty pigeon. I want to be one of those real pretty ones with all the colors that can fly higher than any of the others,” she says, pausing a moment. “I don’t know, birds are just so . . . free. They soar through the skies, flying into the horizon without a care in the world.”

“Sounds perfect,” I murmur.

Zoey shrugs her shoulders. “I just think that after having to deal with everything that’s going on right now, a life soaring through the skies sounds like a dream,” she says, letting out a heavy breath. “What about you? What would you come back as?”

“I don’t know. Is this a world where you’re still alive, and I’m the one who’s gone?”

“How does that have anything to do with what you’re coming back as?”

“Answer the question, Zo. Are you alive or not?”

“Yes,” she laughs. “I’m alive.”

I grin, knowing she’d say that. “In that case, I’m coming back as your favorite pair of panties,” I tell her. “And it better be a thong, too. Otherwise, I’d be pissed.”

“Noah!” she screeches, ramming me in the ribs again, but all I can do is laugh as she pulls herself up and scrambles around until she’s straddled over my thighs, having to hoist the bottom of her gown up to give her space to move. She flings her arms around my neck, and I brace a hand at her waist, hating how much she sways.

It’s been a long day for her. I should get her home soon.

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