Page 15 of Captured Memories
His grin spread wide, and pride thrummed in his chest. “I learned a couple tricks over the years.” He pulled off the rest of the lids. “I made poke over white rice with spicy mayo, and shredded Kahlúa pork over fried rice, so I hope you brought an appetite.” The chunks of ahi tuna in the poke glistened with a beautiful reddish hue, the drizzle of spicy mayo creating a striking contrast. The tangy scent of the pork made his mouth water. Liv snapped away, taking a couple shots of the meals he spread out in front of them.
Zane slipped his hands around her waist, unable to keep from touching her as he pressed against her back. Liv bit her lower lip, stopping mid-shot to glance up at him.
“You take gorgeous shots, sweetheart, but the food’s going to get cold.” He enjoyed the way she sank against him when he whispered in her ear, loved how reactive she was, like she could possibly be as turned on as he was every time they interacted.
Liv slipped away to perch on the table beside the food, resting her sneakers on the seat. She scooped up the bowl of poke and held her fork poised over the glistening surface, and hesitated. “It’s too pretty to eat. I feel like a monster ruining this display.”
He rolled his eyes, and snagging the fork from her, he speared the ahi tuna and a bit of rice before lifting the food to her lips. She took the proffered bite, and a moment later, a moan slipped from her throat. He sucked in a breath as the sound shot straight to his cock.
“Z, this is unfair. How are you so goddamn talented?” she complained, stealing the fork from him to nab a couple more bites. He settled on the other side of the table and dug into the Loco Moco, the yellow of the eggs mixing with the gravy and soaking into the rice. As the flavors of the savory meat and gravy hit his mouth, the smooth texture of the eggs, and the grain of the rice, memories came flooding back. Of the frying pan’s sizzle and pop as his mom hunched over the stove and the gentle melodies she sang to herself while she cooked.
“Not like I get to cook this stuff on a regular basis. These are the recipes passed down to my mother from my grams back in Hawaii.” He chewed slowly, enjoying the way the comfort food filled his stomach. Liv leaned across him to spear into the Kahlúa pork, her eyes lighting up the moment the shredded, seasoned meat hit her lips.
“You should open your own place,” she said as she returned to the pork for more.
His heart thudded at the casual way she spoke his dreams aloud, like they were the most natural thing in the world and not some shameful secret. Someone who had fucked up as badly as he had didn’t deserve dreams, but Liv had always believed in a wide-open future for him, one he struggled most days to imagine at all.
“Food truck,” he admitted, staring at the grain of the bench. A flush crept through him that his bronzed skin didn’t betray. “I’ve been saving to open a food truck to serve this sort of stuff.”
“You’d make bank,” Liv responded with a confidence he sure didn’t feel. She glanced up to meet his eyes, her gaze more knowing than he liked, like she lasered past the layers to the deepest core of him. “That’s one hell of a beautiful dream, Z. I hope I’m around to see it realized.”
His heart thundered, but he couldn’t look away from her, not in the wake of the powerful understanding between them. She’d always been reaching for the stars from an early age. Her words struck a deep chord in him.
“You know I’ll be around for as long as you’ll have me,” he murmured. Liv had unlocked the joy he’d buried long ago under layers of shame and self-loathing. She inspired him and accepted him, flaws and all, when not another soul on the planet cared to.
“Come on now,” she said, her voice growing caustic. “We both know you’ll get tired of my freak-outs and extensive damage.” She didn’t need to finish the statement for him to hear the ‘everyone else does.’ He’d lived through it.
Anger flared as he heard his own self-hatred coming from those gorgeous lips. “Not a chance, Livs.”
Her phone beeped, and her glistening eyes glanced to the screen, breaking the tension between them.
“Fuck,” she swore, kicking the wooden seat in front of her.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Tessa can’t come with me to my cousin’s wedding next week. I’m taking pictures, but I’d already told them I had a guest coming, and it’s too late to cancel.” Her gaze rested on his, but a second later she dipped back to stare at the glowing screen. Her lips pursed, and by the way she glanced to him a second time, he knew what question rested on them.
“Two questions,” he said, raising his hand. Her brows lifted, and those bright blue eyes widened. “What day, and will Lex be there?”
A huge smile spread across her face as she rested her phone on the table. “Lex responded no, and the wedding is next Saturday. You’d come with me?” The hesitation in her voice broke his heart.
“Sure, you can introduce me as the obnoxious guy who’s reappeared in your life,” he said with a smile, resting his hand over hers. The contact ignited his veins, and a second later she leaned up to brush her lips over his in a honey-sweet kiss.
“You’re not annoying,” she murmured upon pulling away, her breath on his lips. “Though that does beg the question of what the hell I’m introducing you as?” Liv’s eyes glowed, and she swung off the table to land on her feet, propping one knee up to the wooden seat. She reached up and grabbed his hand. “Zane Parata, would you do me the honor of being my boyfriend?”
“You’re ridiculous,” he retorted, despite the wide smile straining his cheeks. She snuck to his other side and nestled beside him with a casual comfort he’d longed for too many nights to count. He tilted her chin with his fingers to press a kiss against those lips he found so entrancing. Tasting her sweetness, he lingered, savoring the crush of their mouths and how for that moment she chased his loneliness away.
“I’ve only ever been yours, Livs,” he murmured against her lips. In response, she kissed him with a hunger threatening to ignite. Her arms twined around his neck, her body crushed against his, and he slid his palms along the smooth curves of her waist. The insistent demand of his cock made itself known, a pulse he found hard to ignore.
Even though Zane’s life contained too many black stains to be considered a good one, in this moment, he was absolved. Her lips against his, the sun soaking into their skin, and the sweet, fragrant breezes that wafted through this isolated picnic area were nothing short of perfection. Zane would ride out this afternoon for as long as he could, because he’d learned at any early age—that warm, real moments like this were hard to come by.