Page 101 of Between the Blue
“Hmm?”
When I don’t respond after a few seconds, she looks my way, her hazel eyes meeting mine.
“What?” she asks, a smile tilting her lips.
She’s not wearing a stitch of makeup. Her skin is pale. Her undereyes are shadowed with lack of sleep.
And I’ve never seen someone look more beautiful in my life
I’ve felt a lot of great things.
I’ve been the captain of a winning hockey team. I’ve lit the lamp with seconds to spare in the third period. I’ve hoisted a championship cup.
But, somehow, none of those could even come close to the feeling I get when she smiles at me.
“Ben?”
I shake my head. “I lov–”
Jules launches for me.
Her hand covers my mouth.
She ends up pushing me down onto my back on the blanket.
Even when I’m down, she doesn’t remove her hand. I feel the cool metal of her charm bracelet against my cheek.
“Don’t do that,” Jules breathes.
My brows pull together. I wrap my hand around her wrist. Pull her hand away from my mouth. “Why?”
“If you say it, you can’t ever take it back.”
I sit up on my elbows. “Why would I ever want to take it back?”
Jules looks at me for a long time. A little color comes to her cheeks. I watch her lip twitch one. Twice.
“Jules?”
“They’re just words,” she finally says. “They don’t mean anything.”
But they do.
They mean everything.
She means everything.
“Would you rather I show you? If you won’t let me use the words?”
She bites her lip. Thinks for a moment. Slowly nods. “How though?”
I stand up. Hold out my hand to help her stand up too. Put the leftovers in the picnic basket. Roll up the blanket. Pick them both up in one hand. Grab her hand with my other.
And then I walk us just down the street and around the corner. Because this is a small town.
And I don’t hesitate before walking through the door of the tattoo studio.
Jules doesn’t hesitate either. But she does ask me, “Are you doing what I think you’re doing, Ben?”
