“. . . and that’s not even mentioning La Breve Vita. I think they’re Italian. She loves ’em. She always closes her eyes when she listens to music, ’cause she’s a little weird like that. I kinda like it, though. Every time I walked into her room, she’d be sitting there, earphones in, eyes closed. Half the time I don’t think she even knew I was even there. She never looked up, but she looked cute as hell. Still weird, though.”
I don’t remember the exact moment I wake up. It feels gradual, and I slowly become aware of words facing in from somewhere around me. I’m wrapped up in Tyler’s comforter and I lay there for a minute or two as I adjust. I don’t even fully absorb what’s going on until I hear Tyler’s voice softly say, “Hey, you’re finally awake.”
My eyes flicker open slowly, taking in the brightness of the room, and I glance to my right. Tyler’s by my side and he’s smiling down at me, wide awake, with a camcorder in his hand. He’s pointing it at me.
“What are you doing?” I murmur suspiciously. The red light is flashing.
“Just messing around,” he says. However, he doesn’t turn the camera off. He keeps recording me. “Happy Fourth of July, baby.”
I sit up a little and rub at my eyes, but I’m still aware that I’m being recorded. My eyes drift to the camcorder and I smile at the lens. “Happy July Fourth.”
“The Fourth of July is my favorite event of the year,” Tyler tells the camera as he turns it on himself. He flashes me a dazzling grin. “I think Eden knows why.” Stretching over me, he places the camera on the bedside table.
The curtains are drawn open, so there’s a warm morning glow to the room. The warmth is perfect and calming as Tyler silently runs his hand down my arm, taking my hands in his. He nuzzles his face into my neck as he breathes against my skin, and I let out a small sigh of satisfaction. I could get used to waking up to him every morning. Reaching up, I loop my arms loosely around the back of his neck, my hands resting in his hair, and I pull him toward me. My lips find his, and for once, Tyler relaxes and lets me take control, but it feels so odd that I only end up laughing against his mouth. Smiling back at me, he grips my waist and pulls my body onto his. I sit up on his lap, strands of hair falling out of my messy bun and into my eyes, so I tuck them behind my ears and lean forward again, planting a series of kisses on Tyler’s lips.
“Mmm,” he murmurs.
“I think you better switch that off,” I whisper. Throwing a glance at the camcorder on the bedside table, I kiss the edge of his jaw.
Tyler smirks, expression full of mischief. “How about we keep it on?”
“Hmm.” Playfully, I lean back and sit up. “Never mind then.” I swing my body off his and slide out the bed, getting to my feet.
“Okay, okay, I’ll turn it off,” Tyler says, leaning over to grab the camera. He shuts it off within a split second.
“Too late now,” I say with a shrug, teasingly. It feels slightly odd looking at him in his own bed rather than the couch for once, and I decide right then and there that I’m going to let him sleep next to me every night from now on. I want to wake up like this each and every day. “Coffee?”
“You know it.”
Late afternoon, thunder and scattered rainstorms began to torment the city. Dark skies and rain have hung over Manhattan ever since, and just as Tyler and I are deciding whether or not we’re still going to head out to view the celebrations, the power suddenly cuts out.
The apartment plunges into darkness and there’s no noise besides the sound of the rain rolling down the windows. Outside, the usual lights of New York City are just as they should be. It’s only Tyler’s building that’s lost all power.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I mutter in disbelief. I edge my body closer to Tyler’s and reach out to touch his arm through the limited lighting.
“What a mess,” he says, taking a few steps back. “July Fourth and it’s raining like hell and now we don’t have power?” I feel him grasping at our surroundings as he begins to edge his way through the living room. My fingers tighten around the hem of his tee and I follow slowly at his heels. “I think there are candles in the laundry room somewhere. Never thought we’d ever use them.”
It’s only a matter of seconds before Tyler clashes into the kitchen worktop, the noise of his hip hitting the edge enough to make even me flinch. He groans but doesn’t stop for long, and leads me into the laundry room. I’m only wearing underwear and an oversized T-shirt, so I stretch my hand under my shirt to retrieve my phone from my bra. Although the light given off by my phone is limited, it helps Tyler to locate a collection of wax candles on one of the shelves above the dryer.