“Why?” he asked.

“My roommates’ main goal in life was to work as little as possible so they could surf and get high. Those friendships were based on a shared interest, paddling out, having someone else as a witness to what you could achieve on the board. When I moved in with my ex, it was all about her, all about work and those people. My life was never about me and my needs, even when I was in the water.”

“And now?” he asked.

“Now, I have friendships based on mutual respect. They’re not dependent on those outward interests, and my emotional needs are met and sustained by the woman who just stomped off in a huff.”

“Yes,” he agreed and stared in a daze upstairs.

“I’m sorry about Dee.”

“As am I,” he said. “I took this job as a fresh start, as well. I had this great, ideal vision of the future here….Zack and Teensy, their child who I’m told is a girl. Nico and Lark, their twin boys and another girl on the way. Then came Victoria and Cameron, a little family of their own in the works. Ruby, I’m not sure who her beau will be, but he will be strong, virile, someone she feels safe with, then you and Katherine. I fear the road ahead will be rocky for the two of you, but a straight road to anywhere isn’t very interesting. You’ll make it because her love for you is so powerful, she doesn’t know what to do with it. It’s your job to guide it, not control it. Deirdre…Dee, no longer my dove, and thus, I wonder what my place will be amongst my new friends.”

There wasn’t much more I could say in response. He pretty much nailed it, and I knew he understood the odd position I found myself in when I took on a new relationship and a new business.

A woman nodded at him as she walked past and into Coastal Ink. “My next appointment. I must away. Guidance, not control,” he said and went to work.

Then one of the dads I’d completely forgotten was standing there said, “I feel like I just watched a movie with my wife.”

“Everyone’s life is a movie.” I chuckled, and luckily, their children arrived with bags significantly fuller than when they went up the stairs.

When it was clear the remaining Halloween revelers were more interested in booze than cider, I closed the shop. Sitting in one of the giant, leather chairs and looking around the place—decorated, homey, warm, familiar—I called Katherine.

“Hello?” she greeted, but continued, “I can’t come to the phone right now, but you can talk to my evil twin who might call you a dickhead overlord.”

I smiled into the phone. “Don’t be angry.”

“I’m not angry. I’m pissed. There’s a difference.”

“You do understand, I was trying to give you some space.”

“Loud and clear…dickhead.”

“I don’t require space, Katherine.”

“And that means what to me?” She wasn’t trying to hide the bitchiness in her tone, but my words had disarmed her commitment to that attitude.

“It means that I had a conversation with a friend who helped…guide me, and if you feel that the time is now, I will eventually find someone to take over my lease, and your garage will be filled with surfboards and skis, your closet will be filled with my clothing, and my name will be added to the utilities.”

Then, without warning, she hung up.

And promptly called back.

“Hello, Katherine.” I chuckled.

“Stop fucking doing that!” she demanded.

“Doing what?”

“Making me happy. Just…try to piss me off a little. Like, leave the toilet seat up or something.”

“I’m going to take this opportunity to remind you I pissed you off an hour ago, and less than a minute ago, you were still holding tight to that anger.”

“Whatever,” she huffed, but I could hear she was fighting a giggle.

“Where are you?” I asked, rising from the chair and turning off the lights as I went.

“I’m home. I chickened out on the face-to-face with Dee. I was already pissy and didn’t want to take it out on her.”

I walked out the front door and locked it. “We have things to discuss, baby.”

“I figured. You’re all about the fine print on my feelings, aren’t you?” she laughed.

I began the walk up to her place…our place…and asked, “You like the way I fuck you?”

“Hang on,” she said, the phone muffled for a moment. “I had to turn down the TV and put down my drink.”

“Why?” I asked with a grin.

“My legs are parted, heels on the coffee table, and now I’m playing with my nipple. So, ask me again how I feel about the way you fuck me.”

“You like the way I fuck you?” I repeated.

“I really, really do.” She laughed.

“And you’re not going to argue with me about utilities?”

“No. Sneaky how you’re using the sex thing to get your way though.”

I turned the corner to the beginning of her street, right behind the high school. “I’m also thinking you need an herb garden. You’re a great cook. I could plant you a little garden off the deck so you would have fresh basil, tomatoes in the summer…”

“Back to the fucking-me talk.”

I smiled, and not for the first time, I took great pleasure in knowing I was going home to her. “I’m not far away. Pinch your nipple, baby.”

“Yes…”

“Hard, don’t let it go.”

“I won’t…”

“Harder. I’m walking with an erection, one block away. You know what I want to do with my cock?”

“Tell me…”

I lowered my voice and slowed my approach, mostly because I was wearing jeans. My cock was straining against them, and the thought of Katherine, her legs open on the couch, wasn’t helping. “I’m thinking about your…”

“Say it…,” she begged.

“I’m thinking about your pussy. The way it tastes, the way it feels when I slide one finger inside of you and whisper against your lips…and now, I want you to let go of your nipple and move your hand into your panties. Then I want you to pinch your lips together, over your clit. Have you done that?”

“Yes,” she rasped.

“Good girl. Now, rub them together, back and forth until you can feel your clit beg to be released.”

“I fucking love you,” she breathed.

I climbed the stairs to the apartment and asked, “Can you hear that?”

“You’re home.”

“I’m home, baby. And when I get inside, I’m coming inside.”

“Hurry,” she urged.

I opened the door to find her exactly as I imagined she’d be. I locked it behind me and shimmied off her jeans, which were already mid-thigh, along with her panties. “You kept your clit locked up for me.”

“I listen when you talk, Holst.”

“Say it again,” I demanded and took off my jeans and boxers, my cock springing upward, pre-cum across the head.

“Holst…damn, that’s a beautiful cock.”

I leaned forward, my hands braced on the couch as her lovely face rose to meet me. “You’re beautiful,” I told her as I bent down to kiss her mouth, not a coaxing kiss, an aggressive kiss, claiming her, and in turn, she showed her gratitude in every magnificent sweep of her tongue.

“Holst,” she whispered, pulling her lips from mine.

I breathed my response against her mouth. “Yes, my Katherine.”

“You’re in love with me?” she asked, her eyes pleading that I answer her question exactly how she wanted to hear it.

I moved my hand between her legs, over her own and held it there as I explained. “We’re good together. I knew at Tori and Cam’s engagement. The way you reacted to me, the way you fought it…You knew we’d be good together, too.”

She then told me something I’d known, though I never expected her to confess. “You remind me of him.”

“I figured, baby.”

“No competition. None at all, but I needed to know. I needed more. Tori went through the same thing with Cam; she needed more. And you know what made tonight worse? I wanted to go to her and Dee and Ruby and talk to them…but I couldn’t. ”

My voice was gentle, content in the knowledge I was exactly where I should be, and told her, “I’m here.”

“If you leave me, don’t do it like he did.”