Hard Beat

The shy smile returns along with tears welling in her eyes that I don’t quite understand. I shift again so that I can see her better, one leg hooked over hers, hand resting on her abdomen, and eyes fixed on hers. “Because I want it all, Tanner Thomas. I want late nights laughing and early mornings making love. I want memories and to lay down roots with you. I want you to teach me how to surf and for me to really show you how to shoot a gun,” she says with a smirk. “My history has been erased, and so I want to start making a new one with you. I want the white pickets, your last name… the little boy with skinned knees and sticky kisses. That time away from you after Landstuhl taught me that I want it all, and I know you don’t want some of those things, so…” Her voice fades off as she bites her bottom lip with hesitancy and averts her eyes.