Page 82 of Meet You in the Waves
“Fair enough,” he chuffed. “I admit I’m feeling a bit selfish for you too.”
“You can see him tomorrow if you want,” I returned. “He, um, actually just bought an apartment over in Bondi. That was why I was late. We were just over there, signing the papers.”
“Really? Wow.”
“Yeah. It’s, um … it’s for us actually,” I pressed on, suddenly feeling shy about this. Ajay and I hadn’t talked about what would happen beyond the eleven month mark of our relationship, when I was qualified and free and had no ties to location. I always knew that I would be following him wherever he went but that conversation had been on the backburner while I finished my apprenticeship.
“What?” Ajay asked. Those brown orbs were watching me, the emotion in them hitting me in the gut.
“Yeah,” I continued, moving my hand up to his lower back. “It’s only a small place, just a one bed-roomer on the seventh floor of an apartment block. But it’s on the waterfront, the ocean a stone’s throw away. Sea views from our living room. We can surf every morning. And it’s not too far from the Conservatorium either, just a couple of buses or the train away.”
“Bondi is expensive,” Ajay mulled. “What sort of rent would we be talking?”
I huffed out a laugh, tightening my hold on his back. “No, baby. Dad bought the apartment for us. To share. His name is on the title, just like this place for Dane. But it would be ours, Ajay.”
“But I pay rent here to Dane.”
“Yes but here you’re just some rando housemate,” I smiled. “If you live with me it’ll be as my boyfriend. One bedroom, remember?”
Ajay smiled at that, the big kind of smile that lit up his eyes. “I can’t expect your dad to fund my lifestyle. Of course I’ll pay rent.”
“You’ll keep your money, Ajay,” I returned, trying to inject a little force to my words. “Besides, we already pre-empted your little monetary objections. Dad said you can pay by keeping me in line and singing for Mum every time we visit.”
Ajay laughed, burying his head in my chest. “How do they think I can keepyouin line?”
“Don’t you know, baby? I would do anything you asked of me.”
“You’d move away from your beautiful coastal paradise to a life in a big city? Just for me?” Ajay asked, voice suddenly seriousness.
“Didn’t you hear me when I said I would follow you to the ends of the earth?” I snickered.
“Yes but you say that in the middle of sex so I never take it to heart.” Ajay’s head was still buried in my chest, his voice muffled. I needed to see his eyes for this so I lifted his chin, latching onto the depth of emotions he was trying to hide from me.
“I mean it. I mean every word, Ajay. You mean everything to me and I love you so fucking much. There is literally nothing I wouldn’t do for you. I want to be with you so bad I’m not even sure I’m going to last out the next four weeks away from you.”
“You will,” Ajay replied sternly. “These past ten months have not been just so you can come work as a barista in my coffee shop.”
“I will,” I promised him, kissing his head again. “And the day Brad signs me off I’m moving here so I can be close to you. Even if you want to stay here with Dane a little longer, that’s fine too. As long as we’re in the same city, I don’t mind.”
“Ah, no,” he returned, lifting up onto his elbow to look down at me. “You said you have a room with one bed in it. For us. If you are in this city, Nick Tempe, then I will be with you. There is no doubt about that. You’re my everything too.”
I just smiled at him, this beautiful, perfect boy who I was so in love with I sometimes couldn’t breathe when we were apart. Who set my world on fire and lit my body aflame for him. Who enlivened my mind with his sweetness and his incredible talent and who just made my life so much better. So much more fulfilled. So much more real.
Yeah, I’d give up my life on the coast for him. In a heartbeat. He better believe it. I’d move into the centre of the country, no waves for days if that was where he was.
“I belong where you are,” I told him.
“Then that’s where our home will be,” he replied. “With each other. Wherever that may be.”
“Then let’s do it,” I agreed, sealing our promises with a kiss.
CHAPTER 28
epilogue 2 – ajay
4 more months later
Iknew he was out there in the crowd somewhere, my Nicky, come to watch me perform in my concert band. It was the first time Nick had made it to one of my performances and I was more nervous than I usually was at these types of events. I didn’t really know why since he was quite literally my biggest supporter, like the most biased one-man cheerleader in existence. It was just one of the thousands of reasons I loved that man so very, very much, his one-eyed support for me.
