Page 52 of Beautiful Ruin

For tonight, he’s mine. I want him to know it.

He moves fast, our mouths still pressed together. The world is spinning around us, the faintest hint of dawn teasing the sky.

He’s me. We’re inseparable. There’s nothing but us and the water washing over our slick skin.

His rough breathing falls on my lips. “Only you. Always you.”

His conviction has my heart swelling against my ribs.

The ocean ebbs and flows around us, but Harrison sets his own pace. One for us.

When we come, the sea trembles.