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Out on the pool deck, I moved slower than usual, hyper-aware of potential hazards for Holden’s chair. The pool featured a hoist lift, but Holden had enough mobility to lower to a seated position on the side of the pool, allowing him to gear up with Rafe and me.
“Can’t believe I really get to dive,” he marveled, shifting his weight from side to side. He was antsy to get in the water, but I made him suffer through multiple rounds of equipment checks, practicing how I’d check the students in my class. And ever the patient one, Holden kept right on smiling. “You’re going to make a great instructor.”
“He is,” Rafe agreed. He was a tall, skinny man with a shaved head and closely trimmed dark goatee. “Glad we finally convinced Phillips here to teach. No one better to teach advanced techniques and rescue and recovery. Going to make it safer for divers all over the region if we have more certified in rescue operations.”
“I already signed the contract.” I shook my head at both of them.
“It’s not flattery if it’s truth, Phillips.”
“Listen to the man.” Holden chuckled. “Everything locked and loaded?”
“Yeah.” My heart started hammering, and I had to suck in a quick breath. Holden’s eyes widened with sympathy, but I held up a hand. “I’m all right.” I let myself do one final check of Holden’s tanks and masks. “There. Let’s do this.”
Under the water was where the magic always happened for me, the calm, controlled descent to the bottom of the pool. Colorful tiles and fish decals added interest for the diving classes, but all my attention was on Holden and his unrestrained joy.
He swam easily and freely, the buoyancy of the water and suit giving him a fluidity he didn’t have on land. And proving yet again that he was my perfect match. He was a natural diver, easily regulating his breathing, more of that joy infusing his every movement. Like me, he was the type of diver who’d stay down as long as practical, enjoying every moment of the experience.
And he was a good sport about the experiments Rafe and I wanted him to do, swimming through underwater hoops, testing his flexibility, and checking his endurance. He kept grinning under his mask, eyes crinkling, his whole body alive with a potent energy that made me want to give him every damn reef in the world.
As Holden navigated one of the underwater obstacles, we came face to face, eyes meeting. He always said how he wanted everything with me. Well, with him, I felt everything. All the emotions I’d run from for years, coupled with brand-new feels that I was still learning names for.
I love you, he signed with his hand. I felt it, a current through the water, a tangible certainty. I could doubt my own worth or curse the unpredictability of fate, but I couldn’t question his love.
Me too. I returned the sign as a flash came from the side. Sneaky. Rafe had an underwater camera, and he was only too happy to show us the picture when we were all back out of the pool, lounging on the side.
“That’s one for the wall.” Rafe laughed. “Y’all are adorable. I’ll message you the file so you can get prints.”
“Deal.” I didn’t mind the teasing or being adorable if it meant getting to capture such a special moment.
Oh. For the first time in my whole damn life, I understood why people had weddings. Those rings Holden wanted? Totally happening. And I was ordering dozens of pictures. Moments we could look back on again and again, proof positive of what we shared. And why wouldn’t I want to show him off, celebrate what we had?
Not now, but someday in the not-so-distant future, we were having a big damn party. I smiled, gaze catching Holden’s again. He slowly nodded, expression intent. Yeah, he was thinking it too. None too subtle, he rubbed my knuckles with his thumb. I flexed my hand back into the I love you sign, and his answering grin lit up the whole darn facility.
“That was incredible.” He kept grinning even in the locker room as we changed back into street clothes.
“Want ice cream on our way home?” My stomach rumbled. Technically, it was closer to dinner time than dessert, but life was sweeter with Holden. Why the hell not have dessert first?
“Only thing I like more than the ice cream idea is a double scoop of you saying home.” He gave me a quick pat on the ass before transferring back to his chair.
“It is my home.” I wasn’t agreeing simply to make him happy either. It was the address on all my bills and checks. It was the place I’d finally unpacked all my bags and things, keeping only the necessary gear in travel boxes. It was where I put my feet up, where I laid my head, and where I wanted to be. “Driving back from Tahoe, listening to you and Monroe on the pod, I kept smiling.”
