Behind me a door opens. I turn to see Emmitt standing there, rubbing a towel through his wet hair. Then my eyes drop to his bare chest and my mouth goes dry, even as he says, “Did I make the twenty-minute mark, or have I lost my camera forever?”

I can’t look away from his snake tattoo. Oh my God, I need to look away from his snake tattoo, but I can’t look away from his snake tattoo.

It’s red and yellow, inked down his rib cage with one beady black eye staring at me as its forked tongue trails against the edge of Emmitt’s hip bone. Why is it suddenly so hard to breathe?

“Sweetheart?” Emmitt says, startling me into meeting his eyes again. “Did you hear me?”

“Oh. Uh.” I check my phone for the time, willing myself to focus. “Two minutes early. Impressive.”

He grins. “This is the only time I’ve ever been early.”

“I know,” I say, letting out a forced chuckle. Without my permission, my eyes dart down again, and this time I give in to the impulse to ask, “Uh...your snake tattoo. Is there a story behind it?”

Emmitt looks down at his chest in surprise. “Oh. I didn’t even realize you could see it. There is a story, but it’s not that interesting.” He shrugs, resting his towel around his shoulders. “My dad grew up in Spain before he moved to England for university. During one of his summers in Spain, he was bitten by a snake. It wasn’t poisonous or anything, so he was fine, but he got a really cool scar from it. I used to ask him about it when I was little, and every time he told the story, he made it sound like this incredible adventure. It’s one of my favorite memories of him, so when I turned eighteen last year, I decided to get this tattoo. Since both Spain and China have red and yellow in their flags, the colors felt like a fitting homage to both of my parents. Combining both parts of my identity, no matter how different they are.”

I gape at him. “That’s not that interesting? Are you kidding? That’s such a lovely and meaningful reason to get a tattoo.”

Emmitt shrugs, idly running his fingers over the snake. “I’ve never told anyone about that before. Mum just kind of knew why I did it when she saw it.”

Something in my chest warms. “Thank you for telling me, then. I promise to take it to the grave.”

Emmitt offers me a small smile in return. “I’ll hold you to it.”

I grin and stand up, ready to pass over his camera when Emmitt stops me, holding a hand out.