In that moment, everything in my life shifts.

Every touch, every kiss, every word prior to this point fades to grey.

“The other night”—I lift my hips a little, mourning the loss of his fullness—“when I almost said those words . . .” I sink back down, loving the feel of every vein and ridge pressing against my tight walls. He thrusts up as I push down, skin to skin, heart to heart. It’s almost more than I can take.

“Yes,” he growls, digging his fingers into my flesh.

“It was so natural to say them because,”—I lift again, my legs shaking—“because I’ve loved you for as long as I could remember.”

Gripping me with all of his strength, there’s no room at all between us.

Connected in every way imaginable, we move as only we know how. “As a kid, I loved you because you saved my life,” I moan the words into his ear, letting their fullness fade to nothing more than a breathless whisper. “Then I loved you in my dreams. Who I thought you’d become. The man I’d hoped to be reunited with someday.”

He loses control of his rhythm, his hips driving up into mine as his rough hands push me down onto his needy body. “And now.” I take control, pushing down on him, letting him fill me completely. Stroking my hand over his stubbled jaw, I memorize every line and curve of his beautiful face. “Now, I love you for everything you are and all the things you aren’t. I love you for the fairy tale you’ve given me and for all the tomorrows to come.”

He nuzzles his face between my breasts, kissing, nibbling, licking, all while making love to me like he never has before. There’s a languorous fluidity with every touch and taste. Second by second, we race toward oblivion, hands tied together, bodies connected in more ways than I ever thought possible.

He slides his hand between our bodies, strumming his fingers against the rounded curve of my clit. “All my life,” he begins to profess. “I never thought I’d find you again. And then one night you were in a dream. So clear and perfect, every vision was real and alive,” he grounds out his words, focusing all his energy on making me come and stopping himself from doing the same thing. “And then you were my reality. You were right there in front of me and I might not have said the words right then and there, but I knew I would do anything in my power to keep you. To make you mine.” On his last word, his thumb takes up a furious pace. “And you are, Gracie. Every part of your body.” There’s a connection between his soul and mine, rivaled by the connection between his thumb and my body. “I love you more than should be allowed.”

With a few more flicks of his finger, a few more drives into my body, he comes wildly, burying his face in my breasts. My hips move on their own accord, my orgasm crashing into me without warning. “Oh, God . . . oh, God . . . oh, God . . .” My words, staccato breaths of release matching the movement of my pulsing body, fall into the crook of his neck.

But his words fall directly into my heart. Growing roots in my soul, they take up residence there.

They become part of who I am, the air in my lungs, the blood in my veins.

And when he quietly whispers them one more time, a soft, sweet, “I love you,” I become whole in a way I’d never known I was broken.

“Babe, you need to relax. You’re going to give yourself a heart attack.” My words are utterly useless as she races around the apartment. “Seriously, Grace,” I call out, the tone of my voice a bit more stern. “Stop.”

Resting her hands on the counter, she takes a break from putting her lunch together. Feeling somewhat helpless, I watch her shoulders rise and fall under the weight of her deep breaths. She doesn’t turn around to face me so I walk up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist. With my face nuzzled into her neck, I feel her body relax. “You’ve been going non-stop for hours.” I press my lips to her neck. “Making a last trip to your classroom—even though you were there all day.”

Cutting in, she says, “Well, thank God I did that. The L fell off the wall. So instead of it saying WELCOME across my bulletin board, it read WE COME!”

“I bet there would have been a line outside your door,” I joke.

She slaps me hard on my chest. “David,” she yells. “Eww, that’s gross. They’re high school juniors.”

Holding my hands up in mock defense, I laugh. “What? I’m just saying. With you looking like you do, you may as well play ‘Hot for Teacher’ as the kids walk into the room.”

Disgusted, she shoots me a look. “Can we please change the subject?”

“Fine. Back to the list of things that made Grace go crazy today. After going back to school, you ran to the store for last minute supplies—for the second time. You spent over an hour laying out your clothes. Then it was on to reprinting your lessons and memorizing student names—even though you’ve never seen their faces. And now you’ve been stressing over what to bring for lunch for about twenty minutes.” Exhaustion pales her face. Smiling at her, I brush my knuckles against her cheek. “Will you let me help, finally?” Her eyes flutter closed as I tuck a few stray strands of hair behind her ear.

“Yes,” she gives in, sighing. Finally having run out of energy, her body goes slack in my arms. “Maybe I’ll take a bath and try and unwind. It was really overwhelming to be in meetings all day and then do everything I needed to get done before the students come in. So many new people to meet and names to remember. Then the policies and procedures. Meeting dates and special events. My head is spinning and I haven’t taught a single class.”

“Sweetheart.” Tipping her chin up, I gaze into her bright blue eyes. “Shh,” I quiet her. “You kicked ass today and you’ll kick ass tomorrow. But not if you keep getting yourself all worked up like this.” Popping a kiss to her forehead, I hug her through a few more of her deep, calming breaths. Holding her at arm’s length, I say, “I’ll make your lunch. You take a bath. Then we’ll go to bed.”

“Sounds good. Thank you.” She brushes her lips against my stubbled cheek before walking away and toward the bathroom. “Oh and, David?”

“Yeah,” I respond, looking up from the mess she’s spread out across the kitchen counter.

“You’re cute when you get all listy,” she jokes, laughing as she walks away.

Shaking my head, I get to work. As I put together everything she’ll need for her first day of school, I overhear her singing too loudly in the bathroom. As I spread the mustard onto the bread, I catch a glimpse of the rest of our life. It’s a strange moment, one that freezes me in the here and now while everything around me fast forwards on.

With sharp focus, I see everything. A big house and a few kids. Happiness and tears. Laughter and love. Though intangible, I watch as if floating above my own existence as I arrive home from work. Kids racing toward my car, telling me all about their day at school. Grace watches from the front door, relieved I’m home from a twenty-four hour shift. Catching sight of the love and happiness glimmering in her eyes, my chest fills with more emotion than I can put to words.

I’ve heard people say they experience an “ah ha” moment, a definitive slice of time when their entire lives make sense.

This is that moment for me.

All the decisions I’ve made to this point have led me to Grace. To our future. To all the possibilities I’m not even aware of yet.

In the four months we’ve been together, I’ve come to love her more than I’ve loved any woman. And in the last four minutes, I’ve dedicated all my tomorrows to her. Without a doubt, Grace not only owns my heart, my here and now, all of my todays, she resides in all my tomorrows.

Smiling like a fool, I pull out my phone and look up her favorite poem. She mentioned it way back on that first night she took care of me after my pulled muscle. At that point, I filed it away, knowing one day it would be useful.