Heat Wave

“Oh relax,” he murmurs, his head against mine as he starts to lead me around the floor, swaying slowly back and forth. I can’t remember the last time I slow-danced with someone.

Actually I can. I think it was with my father at Logan and Juliet’s wedding.

I swallow hard at that thought, but for once it’s not the punch to the gut it used to be. Our days together have brought a peace about her that I hadn’t had before.

Soon other people start dancing alongside us. Johnny and Lucia, Charlie and Kate, Daniel and Nikki. Even Jin is dancing with an elderly lady and showing off some pretty impressive moves, making her laugh.

“I never wanted to be your weekend lover,” Logan sings into my ear, his voice deep, rich, washing over me like tropical rain. I hold him closer and rest my head on his chest, hearing his heart beat underneath. Strong, just as he is, and getting louder, faster, as we dance into the night, dance into a world that’s just our own.

And when the song is over, we don’t break apart. We keep dancing. We keep dancing as Charlie stands on one of the tables, shirtless, a party hat on his head and starts counting down loudly.

“Ten! Nine! Eight!” he shouts, pumping his fist.

“It was a hell of a year,” Logan says to me. There’s a gravity in his voice as his eyes search mine.

“It was.”

“Seven! Six! Five!”

“I could never have believed it would end like this,” he says.

“Neither.” My voice is small as he places his fingers on my jaw, a light, delicate touch.

“Four! Three! Two!”

“I love you,” he whispers. “So bloody much.”

“I love you, too.” My words are breathless.

“One! Happy fucking new year!” Charlie yells, stomping his feet on the table and throwing his hat into the crowd.

Everyone erupts into hollering and cheering and laughing, punctuated by a ton of loud noisemakers. Logan and I, we smile knowingly, feeling that love run deep, deeper than I could have ever thought possible. Soul to soul, what we share is fathomless.

And then he kisses me. Not the timid, shy kiss usually reserved for New Year’s Eve. But the kind of kiss that tells the world that I am his.

And he is mine. I kiss him back with just as much passion, my hands in his hair, at his back, one of his hands at my waist, the other cupping my face. Our mouths are lost to each other, warm and wet and bigger than my wildest dreams. This man is all I need.

I know we are getting carried away and I don’t care. Time doesn’t seem to matter at all, it has no place in our world where the beautiful moments seem to last forever.

So when we break apart, we’re slightly surprised to see the staff at Moonwater Inn all crowded together at the edge of the dance floor and staring at us with open mouths.

Well. Not Kate and Daniel. They’re actually smiling, looking relieved. But Johnny, Charlie, Lucia, Nikki, and Jin? Well you could shoot golf balls into their gaping maws. I’ve never seen a group of people look so shocked before.

To be honest, it’s a good feeling, to have it all out in the open like this. This is who we are, judge us if you’re going to judge us, but we love each other and that’s all that really matters.

“Looks like we’ve been caught,” Logan comments with good humor. He takes my hand. “Come on Lucy, we have some splainin’ to do,” he says in his best Desi Arnez impression.

I take in a deep breath for courage and he leads me over to them.

No one says anything for a moment.

Then Kate blurts out, “Finally!”

“What, uh,” Johnny says pointing at us. His bow-tie is undone and he has red lipstick on his cheek from where Lucia must have kissed him. “What was that?” He points at my hand in Logan’s. “What is this!? The habut and the little wahine?”

“We have something we would like to announce,” Logan says smoothly.

“Uh, pretty sure you announced it with your tongues down each other’s throats,” Charlie says flatly.

“N’ Sync, go put on a shirt,” Logan says, then looks to everyone else. “It’s not anyone’s business and I know you’re unlikely to understand. But all we can ask for is for a bit of respect. You don’t have to approve, but as it stands…this is the reality. This is who we are.” He clears his throat.

“Dude,” Johnny breathes out. “Wow. This explains so much.”

“Yeah,” speaks up Jin, who is grinning. “Why you’ve been so happy lately. You’ve been getting lucky.”