ℬᎾℳᎯ

DO YOU KNOW what it feels like to watch elephants, wildebeests, giraffes and zebras in the open plains as the light shifts to dark and the heat to chill?

To feel the indescribable sensations of Africa while sitting on a little fabric with another wrapped snugly around you?

We have watched the blue vignette of the mara sky transform from pink to a deep purple dome, bringing with it the thrill of our last day here. 

Behind us, the fire crackles, the popping sound of burning wood seems to amplify the roars, hoots and galloping hooves in the distance. 

Slowly, the deep purple fades, gradually being replaced by bright red hues that beam up from nowhere, leaving nothing untouched.

"Are you cold?" He asks.

"No," I smile. "Why?"

"You're grabbing on really tight," he says.

I chuckle. "I can't help it, you're hot."

He laughs. "This is captivating. Here, with you." 

My phone vibrates beside me. I open it to see pictures from Mom. She's kissing Tee next to the Eiffel Tower. 

"What are you smiling about?" He asks.

I show him the picture. "Honeymooners." I say.

"That's cute. We should take ours and send it over"—I look at him with blaring eyes—"without the kiss of course," he says. I don't mind taking a picture of us kissing under the sunset, if I'm ending it to Chinny, but to Mom? No, thank you. 

We snuggle up and take an innocent selfie with toothy smiles and twinkling eyes. I send it to her with the caption: Sunset Crooners.

I'm thinking about kissing him. Why do I always want to do that?

His face floats in front of my eyes and he raises his brows with a clownish smile. I push him away, laughing. 

"What?" He says, laughing too.

"Seriously?" I ask. He nods, smiling a half cute, half tempting, full on seductive smile. "I'm not kissing you again." I say. 

He stands up. I fold myself in the blanket. Preparing for whatever show he is about to stage. 

"What if I make you deal?" He says. 

"What deal?" I raise my hand and he pulls me up. In the silhouette of the young night, his muscles pop, solid ridges of hotness. 

I have a hot boyfriend. Say that again. 

"I HAVE A HOT BOYFRIEND." I say it aloud. 

"What?" He smiles that smile.

"I didn't want to keep saying it inside so I had to tell the world."

"Well it's just me and you here."

"And sneaky animals," I say. 

Trying not to sexualize him always ends with hyper sexualizing him. Why? I can't help it. 

"You know," he starts. "I can read your mind."

I chuckle, the flames cast moving shadows on his face, adding a spark to his eyes. "Shock me, what was I thinking?"

He moves closer, a little more, then our foreheads are touching, we're breathing the same smoky air. My smile expands into a laugh. 

"What was I. . .Ivan!" I squeal as he flings me over his shoulder. Before I can settle myself, he starts running around the fireplace. "Put me down!"

That laughter. My laughter, like running around the playground again. He doesn't stop though. So I spread my arms out and let go of my resistance until he comes to a slow stop. 

"No joke, you're not so little." he says and we start laughing again. 

"That wasn't what I was thinking." I say, putting my hair in order.

"I was close though." He says. I shrug, saving ourselves the explanation. He smiles that smile again. 

Lips. Look away. Kiss him. No. Wait.

"Was I your first?" I ask.

He squints, then his eyebrows turn upside down. 

"I mean kiss. Was I your first kiss?"

He throws his head backwards, laughing. 

"It's not a weird question, you don't kiss like an amateur, that's why I asked."

"How would you know?"

"I don't know, maybe because. . .never mind." I say. That was a stupid question. 

"I've been kissed before, a few times."

"You've been kissed, what does that mean?"

"Somehow, the girls at my last school were always dared to kiss me."

I laugh. "Pop up kiss. Right. But that wouldn't make you a good kisser. So it's movies then?

"I'm a natural." He says. 

I allow the silence to brew, maybe he'll get it then.

"I have a feeling that I'm missing a cue." He says. 

I roll my eyes, laughing. "You are–"

He lifts me and I'm in the air again, straddling him tightly. Beside us, the bright red sky has changed again, now to hues of dark orange rays, with clouds dancing in a dramatic rage across the sky. 

I close my eyes to the heated silence and bubbling giggles, then he's kissing me again. 

How he's able to evoke images of bright flames and soldering embers behind my closed eyelids, and how I'm not able to stop, will always be a mystery. 

Maybe we are all mysterious bodies drawn to each other by familiar beating hearts. 

ᵗʰⁱˢ ᶜʰᵃᵖᵗᵉʳ ⁱˢ ᵈᵉᵈⁱᶜᵃᵗᵉᵈ ᵗᵒ Iyanuoluwa-Temi ʰᵉʳᵉ'ˢ ʸᵒᵘʳ ᵏⁱˢˢ.  Thanks for reading ♡