I like this view a lot, maybe too much. Slowly I take long strides toward her, wrapping my arms around her waist, resting my chin on top of her head. Her scent invades my nostrils. She smells of apple orchard, pure and utter euphoria. And she tastes like the wet air after it rains.

We stand like this for what seems like forever, and I close my eyes, listening to the birds chirp loudly.

I like spending my time with her.

I like her here in my space.

I like that she likes me for me even though she sucks at hiding how she truly feels.

She spins around, removing the buds from her ears, and smiles through swollen lips, especially her bottom lip. It’s red with a cut. Damn, I was too rough on her last night.

Gia is as beautiful as a nautical twilight. Where the blue sky blends with pink hues, and you can’t tell where heaven begins and where the earth ends. Her face shines brighter than a million stars.

“Hi.” I use my index finger to clean the crust from her eye.

“Morning,” she says.

I slowly lean down and examine her neck, decorated with purple and pink hickeys. “You look well fucked.”

Her cheeks are flushed, and she flashes me her pearly whites. “I’ll make sure to write a review and leave a five-star on Yelp,” she says, then stands on her tippy toes and kisses the bridge of my nose.

“Smartass.”

She giggles at my answer. I like this carefree version of her. At work, she’s wound up and at home, she’s relaxed.

I don’t want to put a damper on our morning, but seeing those scars on her stomach and back worried me. While she slept after I fucked her five times last night, I didn’t get any sleep. Instead, I stayed up, tracing my fingers on her body, studying her like a map.

I need to get to the nitty-gritty about why she has scars. Who the fuck would do that to her?

“Gia, I have a question. Be honest.”

Curiosity swims in her eyes and she nods.

“What happened to you? Who put those scars on you?”

Her eyes dart away from mine as soon as I utter the question. “I need to cook you breakfast, then maybe we can go to a drive-in theater. On Saturdays they show old movies.”

“Answer me.” My voice is full of exasperation.

“On second thought, we can stay in and watch Netflix.” She entwines her fingers with mine as distress dances in her eyes.

Classic Gia. Always dodging questions when she doesn’t want to answer them.

Gently I grip her chin to show her how fucking serious I am about this. She doesn’t get to shut me out—that ship fucking sailed the minute she agreed to be mine.

“Answer the fucking question, or we’re going to have a problem, Rainbow.”