Sincerely, Yours

by Whitney G.

  I pointed to the left and he squeezed my ass as he carried me across the floor. As soon as we made it past the door frame, he tossed me onto the bed. Keeping his eyes on mine, he pulled out his wallet and set it on the nightstand.

  “I missed you so fucking much, Ari.” The words came out hoarse as he took off his wet clothes. “You have no idea…”

  “I do.” I swallowed as he climbed on top of me, as he pressed his lips against mine.

  “I still take the long way past your house out of habit,” he whispered, unclasping my bra. “And I have a terrible tendency to order for two whenever I’m out alone.”

  I moaned as he trailed wet kisses across my chest.

  “And I still…” He gently swirled his tongue against my nipples. “Have yet to get a sleep worth having since you’re not there.” He looked up at me. “We’re going to have to re-discuss our current long-distance arrangement after this.”

  “After what?”

  He didn’t answer. He flipped me over onto my stomach and rubbed his hands against my sides.

  Teasingly kissing his way down my spine, he whispered just how much he missed me, how badly he wanted to be inside of me.

  Before I could shut my eyes, he lifted my ass up into the air and slowly pressed his cock against my slit.

  He was gentle at first—caressing my skin as he gradually slid into me inch by inch, as he pulled back before burying himself completely. Again and again. But as my body molded to his, as we began to find our rhythm, he gripped me roughly and pounded into me until I couldn’t help but scream.

  “Carter…” I bit my lip as he grabbed my hair and pulled me back. “Carter…”

  “Yes?” He sped up his thrusts. “Yes, Ari?”

  “Oh…Oh god…”

  “Yes, Ari?” He repeated, biting my shoulder.

  My fingers clung to the sheets and every muscle inside of me tensed. My legs began to shake, and he immediately pulled out of me and flipped me over.

  Positioning me onto my back, he slid into me once more—looking directly into my eyes.

  “Don’t shut your eyes,” he said, pressing his forehead against mine. “Let me see you.”

  I nodded, moaning as he kissed me.

  “I love you,” he said, holding my hips. “I love you more than anything, Ari.”

  “I…I love you, too.” The second those words were out of my mouth, he resumed his pace—fucking me as if this was the last time we’d ever see each other.

  I dug my nails into his skin, trying to control the tempo, but I lost it completely. I screamed as tremors suddenly wracked through my body, saying his name louder than I ever had before.

  I kept my eyes open long enough to see him reach his own orgasm seconds later, and the two of us remained entwined as we both came down from our high.

  When I finally caught my breath, I looked into his eyes. “When did you buy your ticket?”

  “Two weeks ago.” He smiled, moving over to my side. “It was torture keeping it a secret from you.”

  “So, how long will you be here exactly?”

  “Just today and tomorrow. I have to fly back Sunday so I’ll make it to tax class Monday night.”

  “But you’re still coming back for a full week and a half, right?”

  “Yes.” He kissed my forehead. “This was just a spur of the moment thing since I’m ahead in my most difficult class.”

  “Okay well…” I touched his chest. “Do you want to do something tomorrow then?”

  “Something like what?”

  “Sightseeing, perhaps?” I shrugged. “I could take you into the city and show you all the usual tourist stuff—Eiffel Tower, Louvre Museum, Loire Valley Chateaux.”

  He gave me a blank stare. “Arizona, I’ve been on a plane for most of today, and I only have one full day here with you left.”

  “So, is that a no to sightseeing tomorrow?”

  “It’s a hell no to sightseeing tomorrow.” A smile slowly spread across his lips. “But we can do that when I come back in a few weeks.”

  “Okay…We can do that when you come back in a few weeks.”

  “In the meantime…” He laughed and pulled me on top of him. “How long will Heather really be gone tonight?”

  Track 36. Today Was a Fairytale

  Arizona

  Weeks later

  Carter’s hand had been entwined in mine ever since I met him at the airport Wednesday morning. I didn’t think it was possible for me to feel any more butterflies fluttering in my stomach, or that my heart could beat any faster since we were long past the ‘just friends’ stage, but the second his eyes met mine in the terminal, I felt as if I was falling in love with him all over again.

  It took us two days to step outside my flat, to agree to spend time exploring something other than each other. Although it’d rained during our steep and never-ending walk through the hilly region of Montmartre and we’d gotten soaked during an impromptu wine tour yesterday, today was all clear for a trip to the mainstream, touristy parts of Paris.

  “You’re not being a very good host today, Ari,” he whispered into my ear. “You’ve been very quiet for some reason.”

  “Sorry.” I stopped walking and pointed to a massive brick building in the distance. “Do you see that? That building with the bronze clock in its gilded frame?”

  “Yes. What about it?”

  “I actually have no idea what that is, but it’s very pretty, isn’t it?”

  “How insightful.” He smiled. “Please tell me more.”

  “Hold on, I will.” I pulled out my phone. “I’ll google it.”

  Laughing, he rolled his eyes. “That’s okay. We need to get to the Eiffel Tower.”

  “Now? You’ll be here all week,” I said. “We can come back to that later. It’s usually pretty crowded at this hour anyway. How about going to the Catacombs instead?”

  “There’s a restaurant on the first floor. We have a reservation there in two hours, but I’d also like to see a view of the city from the top.”

  I raised my eyebrow. He hadn’t mentioned anything about a dinner reservation until just now. He hadn’t even mentioned wanting to go inside of the tower until now.

  As if he could tell I was on the verge of asking a slew of questions, he pressed a finger against my lips.

  “I’ll explain when we get there.” He looked at his watch. “Should we head that way now?”

  “I guess so…”

  We pushed our way through the crowds in the plaza, making our way to the massive metallic structure that’d adorned almost every postcard I sent home.

  After buying us tickets, Carter led me onto a lift. It rose slowly, but stopped at the second floor.

  “We have to get on another one to get to the top,” he said, leading the way.

  “So, you did research on this trip before you came?” I smiled as the doors on the next lift opened. “Did you really need me giving you my attempt at a tour?”

  “I only researched the most important part.” He hit the top floor button.

  “You hate heights, Carter.”

  “I do, but I wanted to see a full view of the city at least once—just in case we don’t get a chance to come back.”

  I moved closer to him as more people stepped on, and before the doors closed, two people who looked freakishly similar to Josh and Nicole got on. I refused to believe it was actually them, though: Nicole was on a road trip to Louisiana this week, and Josh didn’t believe in taking flights that were longer than four hours.

  I looked up at Carter. “Do you see that?”

  “See what?”

  “The doppelgangers of our friends,” I said as the lift began to move. “I’ll show you when we get off.”

  When the doors opened, the doppelgangers went to the right and I motioned for Carter to follow me. I spotted them near a railing, but the person walking toward me stole all of my attention.

  It can’t be…

  I shook my head and looked over at the city,
at the sea of twinkling lights, to make sure I was seeing things right. But when I turned around again, the person was still there. Clear as day.

  “Mom?” I stepped closer. “Mom, is that you?”

  “It is.” She hugged me. “Are you okay? You look scared.”

  “Am I dead right now?”

  “What?” She laughed. “What did you just say?”

  “I’m starting to think I’ve died and am stuck in some alternate reality…You actually got on a plane to come here? You got past security without having a nervous break-down?”

  “I did.” She pulled a small box of Xanax out of her purse and smiled. “This stuff works wonders.”

  “Wait, wait, wait,” I said. “Why would you come all the way here without telling me first?” I noticed the doppelgangers of Josh and Nicole making their way over, noticed that they really were Josh and Nicole. “Why are you all here, why are…What’s going on?”

  “Ari?” The sound of Carter’s voice made me turn around. “Ari…” He took my right hand and got down on one knee.

  My jaw dropped, and a sudden bout of butterflies fluttered against my stomach more furiously than ever before.

  “I originally wanted to wait to do this when we both finished school, but—” He paused, smiling. “We both know I don’t have the best record when it comes to being patient.”

  I let out a nervous laugh.

  “I even wrote out exactly what I was going to say, how I was going to say it, and where exactly I wanted us to be when it happened,” he continued. “But since I left that paper at home and waiting is absolutely out of the question now, I’ll do my best to remember most of the words.”

  Tears welled in my eyes as he caressed my hand.

  “I don’t need to rehash the fact that I absolutely hated you when I first met you, or that I got genuinely happy each time I made you cry in fourth grade, but I will if you want me to.”

  I shook my head, laughing softly as a few bystanders listened along.

  “Fair enough.” He smiled. “Somewhere between us hating each other back then, you became my first real friend, my first and only best friend, and I didn’t realize it until last summer, but you’ve actually been my first everything.”

  “You were my first kiss, my first date that I actually enjoyed, and the first woman I fell in love with—the first woman I actually made love to…” he said. “And you’re still the only person I can talk to twenty times a day—whether it’s via letter, email, text, or phone call, and still feel like it’s not enough.”

  “Carter…”

  “Let me finish,” he said, briefly standing up to kiss me before returning to the ground. “I’ve been in love with you for damn-near my entire life, and the only regret I have is that I didn’t realize it sooner.”

  “You’ve been there for me through everything, and I promise that I will continue to be there for you—whether you’re arguing with me about the most minor things in life or not. I’ll also be sure to send you my longer, much more eloquently written version of this proposal, but I really can’t go another day without having an answer to this.”

  My heart pounded as he reached into his pocket.

  “And for the record, yes: Yes, I’m completely aware that you’ll want to lay out the next few years of our lives with a spreadsheet at some point next week,” he said, smirking—effortlessly reading my mind. “And yes, I also know that you’ll need to ask me a million questions about this night for as long as you possibly can, but if you feel the way I do…If you love me and can only think about ever being with me in your future, I need you to answer me first. I need to hear you say it.” He held up a glittering, diamond ring. “Arizona Turner, I want you to be more of a best friend to me than you already are, and I want to spend the rest of my life loving you. Will you marry me?”

  I nodded, feeling hot tears streaming down my face. I felt the words “I do” on the edge of my tongue, but another comment came out instead.

  “Dawson Meade III was my first kiss, Carter,” I said softly. “Rachel Ryan was yours.”

  “No,” he replied, smiling. “We were each other’s. Trust me.”

  “I would’ve never kissed you in fifth grade. You were still making fun of my braces.”

  “We tested our first kiss on each other, Ari,” he said. “We just didn’t like each other enough to let that count.”

  “Or it didn’t count, because it didn’t happen that way. It couldn’t have.”

  “Seriously?” Josh interrupted, stepping closer to us. “All of that over the top shit he just said, flying all of your closest people here just to witness this moment—not to mention offering you that bright ass ring, and you want to question him on a goddamn memory?”

  “Shut up, Josh,” we both said in unison.

  “Anyway…” Carter caressed my hand and stared up at me. “Can we discuss this after you answer me? Can you tell me whether or not you’ll marry me?”

  “It’s been a yes since we met,” I said, wiping away tears. “Yes, and you know you didn’t really have to ask me. I would’ve never said no to you. But if you keep messing up the facts in our memories, I’m going to wonder if you’ll eventually forget ‘us’ in the end.”

  “I would never.” He stood up, slipping the ring onto my finger as he kissed me. “But even if I did, I’ll always have you here to remind me.”

  —

  The End

  (For real this time)

  Forget You, Rachel

  Extended Epilogue

  Track 32. New Year’s Day

  Rachel

  A few weeks after he joined me on ‘Semester at Sea’

  Dear Rachel,

  I know exactly what you’re doing right now.

  You’re not fooling anyone, and I can see right through your acting. (You’re not sick AT ALL, and you have to stop faking these coughing spells during our master class hours.)

  Forget You,

  Ethan

  P.S.—Why didn’t you tell me how terrible the water pressure was on this ship? I vividly remember a particular letter you sent me a while ago about how “amazing” and “spa-like” it was. It feels like a goddamn dripping faucet.

  Dear Ethan,

  I’m confused. What are you talking about? (I know that I’m not sick. I’m giving you the signal. The ‘I would like to have sex right now’ signal.)

  Forget You,

  Rachel

  P.S.—I only told you that to make you jealous, since you mentioned taking some girl to “The Four Seasons” for an entire weekend during our junior year. You have to use the showers on deck five. Just go when the administrators are in their midday meeting.

  Dear Rachel,

  You’re a terrible actress. (I’ll meet you in my room in twenty minutes.)

  Forget You,

  Ethan

  P.S.—I made that up. (I was already jealous.) Wait. What? Are you saying that you go into their rooms when they’re not in there? Just to take a decent hot shower?

  Dear Ethan,

  (Okay, I’ll start coughing a little harder in like three minutes and leave class first.)

  Forget You,

  Rachel

  P.S.—Yeah. Just once a week, though. The water pressure in their rooms is PHENOMENAL. Also, their bathrooms are disconnected from their suites. Technically, I’m not going into their rooms, you know? It’s only a problem, if you get caught. I’ll give you all the passcodes later.

  Dear Ethan AND Rachel,

  Can you please stop using our ship’s limited Wi-Fi to send these dumbass notes to each other during master class hours? You do realize that everyone in this room can SEE all of your messages via the class chat system, right? We’ve seen them EVERY DAY since Ethan joined us on this ship!

  Forget BOTH of you,

  Professor Max

  P.S.—Rachel, I’ll need you to meet me during my office hours tomorrow morning to discuss this ‘stealing showers’ business...

  Dear Ethan,

  Do yo
u think we can find a way to adjust the privacy settings on this chat, or no?

  Forget You,

  Rachel

  Track 33. You Belong with Me

  Rachel

  Several hours later

  The ship softly swayed from side to side as Ethan held me in his arms. Tonight was the umpteenth night in a row that I’d stayed in his room as he made love to me—falling asleep against his chest, as he whispered promises against my lips.

  From the moment he’d boarded this ship, we were utterly inseparable.

  I was happy that I no longer needed to set aside time to pen letters describing my travels or anxiously wait weeks for his response. He was by my side all day, every day, and we experienced all of the foreign cities and sites together.

  For the first time in my life, I felt like I was living in the pages of a romance novel, but my real-life boyfriend was far more impressive than any of the heroes I’d ever encountered in a book. He knew me inside and out, completed my sentences when I struggled to find the words to say, and even when we were sitting in silence, he could tell what was on my mind.

  “I’m glad you came on board, Ethan,” I said softly. “Like, you have no idea.”

  “You tell me this every night.” He smiled, running his fingers through my hair. “Let me ask you something. If I’d stayed in business school, do you think you would have eventually caved in and sent me a letter?”

  “Not until after I’d exhausted every other option.”

  “Please tell me that you didn’t send any pen pal letters to prisoners.”

  “I was one day away from doing that.” I laughed, and he kissed my forehead.

  Rolling me on top of him, he squinted at the clock on the far side of the room.