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"Hopefully someplace without cell phone reception," I joke and twist the steering wheel of a last-minute car rental down an unmarked road and pray we don't lose the cell signal, or I may actually get us lost.
Ariel swipes across the phone that has been plastered in her hand since this morning. "Your sister just texted. The TikTok has officially reached Paris." Ariel wags the phone in my direction, and I nod.
A workshop fan posted a thirty-second clip of her performance from last night. Ariel woke this morning to over ten thousand notifications, and the video had already reached half a million views.
Since then, she's gotten texts and calls from hundreds of contacts. Some of her industry friends and contacts are here or will arrive in Seaside for the festival and had no idea she was performing. They've reached out to connect. Lunch, dinner, cocktail invites have streamed in all morning, and that's when I thought of this plan.
"We're here." The car rolls underneath a grove of trees at the end of the unmarked trail. It's a deserted area far away from the beach and the growing madness of the arriving throngs. A hidden treasure one local mentioned at the bonfire. If Ariel's band is coming to town to perform on Sunday, our alone time is about to disappear.
"It's stunning." Her whisper is the perfect validation I need for me to speak my mind.
"You're the beautiful one." I turn off the car and twist in the seat to face her. "What you did last night… You singing words I wrote… It was one of the greatest nights of my life. And thank you."
Her lips part, and I expect a smart retort, but she pauses. Her gaze softens, and she must sense the importance of this moment. "I've never done anything like that before. So vulnerable on the stage. Your words gave me the courage to do that. I should be the one thanking you."
The left corner of her lips curves up, and she runs a finger through her hair around her ear, and it's the sexiest thing I've ever experienced. She runs through brick walls for a living, yet she's sitting here with me in the middle of nowhere like there's no place she'd rather be. The electric charge from her gaze shoots right into my heart. "We make a pretty good team." I tiptoe to the line and then leap right across it. "I don't want it to ever end."
"Me either." I release the breath I didn't realize I was holding.
This woman rewards me for taking risks I've always denied myself. "I swept you away from the madness of Seaside because I wanted you for myself. I know there are a hundred things going on right now, especially after that performance. But I wanted you to myself. And if I'm honest, after the week we've had, I'm pretty sure I'm always going to want you to myself."
Her hands land on my knee, a soft squeeze. "You have me. I'm here. I'm yours."
I'm so screwed. Her words are the perfect lyrics to my new favorite song. A song I want to hum every night as I fall to sleep. A song I want to sing at the top of my lungs at the start of every day. A song I'll play on repeat and never tire for the rest of my life.
A snicker escapes my lips as I think of what I thought a good day would look like. A woman like Ariel deserves bigger dreams. "I packed us a picnic lunch, blankets, wine, the whole nine yards." Her eyes sparkle, and I half-expect her to give me the aww, that's sweet that I've gotten most of my life.
"But…" she says the words like she knows. I'm not the only one who has been taking notes.
"But what I really want is to climb into the backseat with you, wrap you in my arms, and kiss you until the sun goes down."
She nibbles her lower lip and lowers her chin to her chest, her gaze not wavering one instant from me. "I like that plan so much better."
Yeah, she's going to be the death of me. But what a way to go.
***
A naked Ariel lies across my chest. We're in the backseat of the car, a blanket draped over her bare shoulder, and I feed her a seedless green grape like the queen she is.
"I could stay like this forever," she whispers my truth, as if reading my mind.
"You, me, and the music." I color in the lines of the painting she starts.
I turn from one beauty to another—a majestic sunset on the horizon.
"Always the music." Her whisper is like a secret. The words carry a weight she's dropped hints about. "It's been the constant savior for me. Always there to catch me, even in my darkest days."
I sweep her hair from her face and press my lips to her forehead. I'll never tire of kissing her. Of wanting to kiss her.
"I want to write more songs for you." I push out the realization that has been swirling in my head all day. "When you sang my words back in the studio, I felt it. It was like a thunderbolt striking. At first, I thought what I felt was your greatness. Being in your presence and hearing you sing a new song for the first time. That performance rocked my entire world."
I shift and push up a bit, my arms still wrapped around her shoulders. "But it was more than that. It was having my words being embraced by an artist and bringing it to life. It's heady. I want to chase that high over and over. I want to write more songs. I want to write more songs for you. I have so much to say. So many words I've not said. I could write three songs right now on how it feels to have you lying here on my chest. Two songs about how it felt to hold your hand the very first time. And one perfect song about the first time I kissed you." Her eyes transform into a misty pool of happiness that urges me to continue.
"And my greatest song, yet to be written. The one I'll write after I tell you I love you." My heart melts as I stare into her dark eyes and wait.
"That's the one I can't wait to sing." She tips up her chin and brushes her lips to mine. It's a ghost kiss of a shared promise.
"Would it scare you if I said that day may come sooner than you might think?"
