Love Will (72 page)

My appetite for her has been ravenous this week. It always has been, but for months, the sex became more routine and less romantic, a way to help me clear my mind and sleep more than anything else. This week, though, I’m trying to make it all up to her, to reward her for her patience, to give her everything she wants… but I can’t get enough of her.

And she can’t get enough of me.

I can feel a tear on my cheek that isn’t mine. I move my hands up her body, slowly, from her hips all the way to her face, until my thumbs both remove wetness from beneath her eyes. We both pull back at the same time. Now able to breathe, she cries.

“I would never let you mess anything up, Will. Trust that. Trust
me
.”

“I do. I always have.”

“Then trust yourself… and I don’t think you’re just going to be a good father; I think you’re going to be the best father. Discipline. Empathy. Humor. Talent. Values. Experience. Knowledge. Love. What more could a child ever need?”

“Just you, and everything you are.”

“Stop. Being. So. Sweet,” she says, lightly tapping me on the chest.

“Hey, Spaceman!” I turn quickly to see my little brother, who’d used the nickname he’d stolen from Shea.

“Mascot! Get over here!” He jumps over the rope and jogs toward me. He
looks
like California in his board shorts, tank top, toned muscles and natural tan. I give him a tight hug. “It’s been too long, buddy.”

“You’re looking good, Max,” Shea says.

“You, too. Don’t know what you’re doing with this guy. You need a haircut, Will.”

“I just got one…”

He cringes and shakes his head in disapproval. I look at Shea. “I love it. I like your hair a little longer.”

“As long as she’s happy,” I tell my brother. “How the hell are you?”

“I’m great. School’s good. California’s amazing.”

“Are you seeing anyone?”

“A little… here and there.”

“Good.” I smile, hugging him again. When I saw him at Christmas, he was still hurt over his break up with Callen and wasn’t even considering dating anyone else. Even though they’re only an hour away from each other at school, they don’t see each other at all–by Max’s choosing.

“Zany! Trey!” he yells in my ear when he catches sight of his best friends. “Hey, we’ll talk after.”

“Sure thing.”

When I turn around, I see Damon and Tavo approaching. They’re flanking a black woman in sunglasses and long, braided hair.

I subtly glance down at Shea out of the corner of my eyes, waiting for her to see them. She squints when she finally does. “Tavo’s lost weight,” she comments.

“He has,” I say, finding it funny that she’s focusing on him.

“Hi, Shea!” Damon calls across the patio.

“Hey, there,” she flirts with him and waves, still oblivious to the third person that’s with them. “Who’s that woman with Damon?” she finally asks.

“She look familiar?” I ask.

“She’s a dead ringer for my sister, don’t you think?”

“You know, I only met her that one time,” I say indifferently, trying to hide my smile.

“That’s not her,” she says, trying to convince herself. “Is it?”

“Why don’t you get closer?”

“Is it?!”

“How do you not recognize your own damn sister?”

“Sarah?!”

The woman with Damon bursts out laughing and takes off her shades, walking quickly to meet Shea half-way. My family murmurs in surprise, wondering why she’s here all the way from Nigeria.

“You know something about this, Will?” Peron asks me. “That’s Shea’s sister, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Pretty
special
… having here here, huh?”

“Well, I guess it might be, Per… did you practice that new sheet music I sent you?”

“I’m ready.”

“Good.”

Damon and Tavo welcome me with handshakes as we watch Shea and Sarah. “Thanks for picking her up this morning,” I tell Damon.

“If ever there has been a woman that’s out of my league, it’s that one.”

“Yeah, that wasn’t meant to be a set up,” I inform him. “Simply a favor…”

“Right, right,” he says, playing it cool.

“Tavo, you working out?”

“We’ve both been running,” he informs me.

“It shows.”

“You feeling good?” my best friend asks me.

“I’m nervous about the singing. That’s all. Totally confident about the rest of it.”

“What’s going on?” Peron asks.

“Yeah?” Tavo adds on as Bradley finally joins the rest of us with a speaker and a mic.

“You’ll see… everyone’s here, so let’s get this thing started.”

Already, people in the street are starting to take notice of Damon Littlefield. They’re pointing out Jack Holland and Livvy and the babies. Phones are coming out and cameras are beginning to record. A small crowd is forming around the roped-off area. I see two security guards come out from inside the restaurant, hired at my urging.

Damon takes the microphone, testing it to adjust the volume. People squeal at
that
. “Hey, New York! It’s good to be back for a bit… and I’m here to congratulate our guitarist, Will, on getting his PhD in Physics. Such a freakin’ brainiac, this one.” The invited guests give me a standing ovation. I look at everyone, happy to see all the people I love here. All the people who have helped to make me into the man I am. I smile at my mother, at the Hollands, at Jon and Livvy, then at Max. I wave at Sarah, who I spoke to this morning when she landed, and I try to silently communicate my gratefulness to Shea for everything she’s done for me. Everything she’s been through while I’ve focused relentlessly on my thesis and dissertation for the past two years. “I’m going to hand it over to Will Scott now.”

I put my guitar back on and lean against the barstool, getting ready for my next song that no one’s ever heard in its entirety. “First of all, thank you to everyone for being here, and for your support over the past few years–hell, over my entire life. I wouldn’t be here without the help of so many of you. And especially one person specifically… I wrote a song… and I’m going to do my best to sing the whole thing, but Damon’s here to take over in case of an emergency.”

Everyone laughs while I set the microphone in the stand and begin playing, then eventually singing:

Another month passes

I see you in my mind's eye

My thoughts a million miles away

A galaxy between us

Or so it seems

You couldn't be farther from me.

I stare out at the ocean

Looking in the wrong direction

Grounded, my toes buried in the sand

But I'm free-falling

Lost without you

Among the hot dark matter, I reel.

In my heliocentric world,

I'm a satellite to your sol

Your love keeps me tethered in orbit

When I'm lacking all self-control

No matter the distance I've strayed

I'm coming back home, my dear,

My arc draws closer; slower

Breaches your atmosphere 

All I am, I give to you.

Please, my–

“Just a second,” I say, stopping the song and clearing the lump from my throat. My nerves are getting the best of me, and Shea’s already teary-eyed, not even knowing what’s coming. I’m not sure I can sing the rest. I cover the mic, pushing it away from me and leaning into Damon’s ear. “After this line, you have to take over the vocals.”

He sees my eyes water and pats me on the back, smiling at me. “I got you.”

I clear my throat once more before starting the line over again.

All I am, I give to you.

Please, my Sol, tell me "I do."

My voice cracks a little as I sing it, but the words still come out audibly. I’m pretty sure everyone in the crowd gasps. Shea grabs a hold of her sister’s hand with one of hers, and covers her mouth with the other. I meet her eyes as tears stream down from them, then look around to see Jon and Livvy, my mother, Max, and other people. I don’t think they’re certain that it’s a proposal. They all look anxious with anticipation.

Damon continues singing my part while I keep playing. I move my focus back to Shea, now delivering an assuring smile as I let myself give in to the overwhelming emotions, too. That must clue everyone else in, because, in no time, quite a few people are crying with us.

Billions of light years

In this universe we know

So many thousands of years

Have we existed

Yet we met.

What are the chances?

And how lucky am I

That I get to hold yours close

Out of all the heavenly bodies I've seen?

Warm and radiant

Against all others

You shimmer; your spirit dances.

In my heliocentric world,

I'm a satellite to your sol

Your love keeps me tethered in orbit

When I'm lacking all self-control

No matter the distance I've strayed

I'm coming back home, my dear,

My arc draws closer; slower

Breaches your atmosphere 

All I am, I give to you.

Please, my Sol, tell me "I do."

I'm the moon to your earth

The earth to your sun

Constellation of reasons

Why you're the one

You're the light to my shadows

The warmth for my shiver

Your touch radiates

Makes my whole body quiver.

My whole world, this one and beyond

Will you marry him? Now's the time to respond.

“That’s…” I stop the song and look over at Damon. My cheeks must be as red as the diamond-surrounded garnet on the ring in my pocket. “That’s not how it goes…”

“I’ll sing it the right way, but I think now’s a good time… she’s crying, Will,” he whispers the obvious fact to me. “Get over there before I do it for you!”

Bradley’s already sitting next to me, waiting to take my guitar. I pick up the barstool and carry it over to Shea since it looks like she’s using her sister to hold her upright at this point.

“I’m good,” she says, turning away the offer to sit down.

“Mind if I, uh… take a knee?” I ask. She shakes her head quickly as a few people clap in the crowd. I take her left hand in my right one.

“Go, Will!” I hear Livvy shout.

“Go, Will!” Edie repeats, causing everyone to laugh. The crowd beyond the patio is cheering, too, and I have to wait for them to quiet down to continue.