How to Honeymoon Alone

by Olivia Hayle

So far, this trip has been very little lying on the beach doing nothing, and a hell of a lot of risk-taking. Which is probably what I need. Looking back on the past few years and my relationship with Caleb, we took remarkably few risks. Maybe, if we’d have taken more together, he might not have gone out seeking some of his own.

The brush of kisses across the sensitive skin is my undoing. Neck kisses always are.

His words spread warmth through me, and I wonder if I’ve ever been this wanted before.

He curses, eyes never leaving mine, and I feel powerful. I’m my vacation self and I’m my regular Pinecrest self at the same time, and I’m watching a man come undone by my touch. I haven’t felt like this in a long, long time.

“Let’s see whose makes it home first,” Phillip says as we walk out of the lobby. I nudge his shoulder with mine. “You just have to make everything into a contest, don’t you?” “It’s what makes life interesting,” he says. But then, he puts an arm around my waist and pulls me into his side, pressing a kiss to my temple. “But I like it best when we’re both winning.” I smile against his shoulder. Public displays of affection? This is dangerous for my overworked heart, but I lean into him because I know it’s too late regardless. It’ll hurt when this ends.

He’d kissed me with crushing intensity and I’d dug my nails into his shoulders, closing my eyes and wondered how I will survive with only these memories to remember him by.

He nods again. “Eden… thank you.” “For what?” He takes a deep breath, and the moment between us stretches out into silence. But then he speaks. “For being my guide.”

He reaches out and runs a strand of my hair between two of his fingers. His eyes soften. “You, with your wild ideas and talk of vacation selves, and forcing me out of my comfort zone at every single turn. Your beautiful brown hair, and your quick mouth, and these dark eyes. I could look at them forever.”

“You’re so beautiful,” he mutters. “It tugs my heart, all the damn time.”