How to Honeymoon Alone

by Olivia Hayle

something I’m proud of.” “It’s okay. We all have our flaws.” “I’m pretty sure you have none,” he says.

“The turtles, they’re hatching tonight.” “Did they text you to tell you that?”

“Hi,” I whisper. He smiles, and it’s a wondrous thing. “You’re glorious.”

“Come on, fruit loop!” he yells. “You got this!”

“Good thing I dropped by, then.” “Yes,” he says and takes a long sip of his drink. “It is.

“You’re the most wonderful thing I never saw coming. I need more of it in my life.”

“I like it when you’re here.” “I like it when I’m here, too,”

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

“I love you, too. I have for much longer than I realized. It crept up on me, slow at first, and then so fast that I was deep in it before I knew.”

“Happy?” he asks. His eyes are warm. They’re the same color as the sea below. Dark-blue and sparkling. “Yes,” I say. “Stupidly happy.” He kisses me again, gently. “Good,” he says. “That’s my goal.”