Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 53349 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53349 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
“I love you,” Nate said. He meant it just as much as the very first time he’d said it. It didn’t even matter if Tamara replied, so long as she was here, in his arms, waiting and wanting to hear it.
“I love you too,” Tamara said, gazing into his eyes. The words sounded like they came to her naturally now, and Nate could hear the certainty in them.
“We seem to spend a lot of our time out on dance floors,” Tamara said with a laugh.
“First, the song launch, then my brother’s wedding… and now, today. I think it’s our happy place. Any regrets?” Nate asked.
“Only that I didn’t say it sooner,” Tamara said.
Nate shook his head. “I’ve only ever wanted you to be ready.”
“Well,” Tamara assured him, wrapping her arms around his neck, “I’m ready now.”
She kissed him again, and this time they were able to explore each other’s mouths slowly, lingering with tenderness as a slow song played. Nate was sure that their friends would be watching again, but he figured, Let them watch. There were some things that were worth a little embarrassment. And then he realized he didn’t feel embarrassed at all. He would have shouted his love for Tamara to the whole world if he could.
That gave him an idea, so he pulled Tamara in the direction of his laptop. A few presses of the keys was all it took to get the program running again, and after that, it was just a question of stepping into the spot the cameras were trained on.
“What are you doing?” Tamara asked.
“Letting the world know how I feel,” Nate said, now audible on computers around the world. “I can turn the cameras off if you like.”
“Don’t you dare,” Tamara said.
This kiss was even better than the last.
“I’ve just had a thought,” Tamara said with a laugh. “I told my mother to watch the livestream today.”
“Worried?” Nate said.
Tamara shook her head. “Not with you here.”
“I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” Nate said. But those words, meaningful as they were, didn’t capture exactly what he wanted her to know. He wanted to wake up beside Tamara every day. He wanted to be the one to make her coffee in the morning. He wanted to share all the small things that probably only they would find funny. He wanted to be there for her during the hard times too. Although, with Tamara there beside him, it was difficult for Nate to imagine how times could ever be truly hard again.
“That’s lucky,” Tamara said. “Because I want to spend the rest of mine with you. Just you, me, and Fifi.”
Their friends couldn’t hold back any longer, practically mobbing the two of them out there on the dance floor. Liz was there first, looking worryingly stern.
“Nate, did you just broadcast the two of you kissing to the whole world?”
“Yes,” Nate said. “Yes, I did.”
Liz’s frown gave way to a smile. “Good. About time.”
The others seemed just as happy for them. Travis shook Nate’s hand.
“So this is what you were talking about,” Travis said.
“Of course it was,” Daniel said, snapping a picture of the pair of them.
Even Zach and Yuriko came over to see what the fuss was about.
“Sorry,” Nate said as he tried to explain. “I feel as though we’re hijacking your wedding.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Zach said. “I think the man who sent our wedding out to the world and the woman who found the best coffee I’ve ever tasted get a little leeway.”
“And besides,” Yuriko added, “it’s good to see other people as happy as we are on our wedding day. We know what it’s like to be this in love. We’re not about to be upset if other people are too.”
“Love makes all of us better,” Zach said.
Nate had to agree. Loving Tamara had certainly made him better. It had shown him that the love he’d always thought was impossible was out there. It had shown him how much more complete life was when there was someone in it as wonderful, as perfect, as Tamara.
It was a while before the party started to wind down, and it was only when Liz pretty much ordered him and Tamara out of the building that they finally made their way to the exit, hand in hand.
“This is nice,” Nate said. “Finally some time to ourselves.”
“I agree. Let’s go home,” Tamara said, adding, “It’s just going to be you, me, and Fifi.”
Nate started to laugh, putting an arm around Tamara, “We’re really going to have to talk about that name.”
Epilogue
Kate watched Tamara and Nate leaving the wedding reception and had to admit she was glad they were going. At least now she didn’t have to try so hard to pretend everything was okay. She was happy for them—of course she was. They were her dear friends here in America, and they were obviously meant to be together, and that was great. Love was a wonderful thing. It was her own life that was making her feel like a plant whose roots had begun to wither, leaving nothing underneath.