Decades

Very Few Words

Lindsey and Stevie resisted the urge to fill the night with words after admitting their feelings to each other. Lindsey didn't want to overwhelm Stevie. Because of their past experiences, he'd always view her as a flight risk; one wrong move, and she'd be out of there. So, instead of a long conversation where they hashed out all the heavy details of the last decades, he went inside and grabbed his guitar and Stevie's cashmere throw blanket.

He turned off the radio and sat back down beside Stevie on the candlelit porch. He topped off their wine glasses, tucked the blanket around her, and sat down close. She adored everything about being here this way with just him and his guitar. He loved seeing on her face that she was as happy as he was.

She sighed. "It could have always been this way for us," she thought to herself, "We could have been this happy." Then, she made an effort to shake off the melancholy of what could have been and to live in the moment. "It is this way for us tonight. I'm lucky to have this special time with him, and I want more, please." she reframed her thoughts.

He played songs that reminded him of them when they were young and together, things that he hoped were reminding her of their happy times. He played songs about her and songs that had reminded him of her when they were apart. It was almost like he was making her a live mix-tape, telling her the things he wanted her to know without having to say them.

Sometimes, she just watched and listened, still as impressed with his talent as she'd been all those years ago. Sometimes, they sang and harmonized together, and the music gave them the courage to look into each other's eyes and reach for one another as their voices wrapped around each other. Just like always, allowing them to express the things they couldn't always say.

He played "Stephanie" for her, and she watched his fingers move across the strings just as she had when they were young and lying beside each other on their mattress on the floor of their first place. For a minute, she was blissfully back there. She used the same little girl voice she'd used then when she wanted his talented hands on her rather than his guitar, "Me next! My turn, my turn! Do me next!"

She'd said it aloud without a conscious thought. She blushed when she realized she'd let them slip out. When she said those words, the sexiest memory came flooding back to him. He remembered her lying beside him on her stomach, propped up on her elbows on the mattress in their old bedroom.

Years later, she'd have an amazing wardrobe and stylists creating beautiful looks for her to wear on red carpets and stages across the world. But he didn't think she'd looked any prettier with full glam than she had in nothing but a tank top and her panties.

When he finished playing the song he was working on, he looked up at her and saw her sweet smile. She'd said something like she'd said tonight, "Do me! My turn! Me next!" jokingly, rocking her lace panty-clad bottom from hip to hip enticingly. He put his guitar aside and reached for the woman he loved.

Lindsey pulled her close, always eager to touch her. He loved every minute of being like this with her and never dreamed it wouldn't always be this way. If the guitarist had known, he wouldn't have taken it for granted, although he's not sure he ever did. He knew how lucky he was to find this kind of love.

He knows that if he had known, it wouldn't last forever. He probably would have ruined it sooner, trying to hold on to her even tighter.

He fondly remembered how he kissed her cheeks, her crinkled nose, and finally her lips. Holding her face in his hands and looking into her soulful brown eyes, he was living his dream. Pursuing their music and in love with the most beautiful, talented girl in the world.

"Your turn?" he said, giving her a tickle on the ribs. "Does my baby need tuning?" he jokingly asked. To which she gave a sly little smile and answered in a big, happy nod. She rolled over onto her back, pulling off her top-up to expose her small breasts. He smiled down at her, admiring her in nothing but her lacy bikinis.