After the Rain- Josh Kiszka

Chapter 17- Traitorous Tattoos

We did it.

Josh and I had finally had sex, and it was definitely worth the wait. He was so gentle, considerate, and hot—  it made me think of how great that night  had been, many moons ago.

The morning light crept through the drapes as I lay in bed replaying the night's events over and over in my mind. As I felt Josh stir beside me, I figured it would be best to get dressed as soon as possible to avoid any mishaps before I could come clean. I slowly got up from the bed and quickly and quietly made my way to the shower. 

I turned on the water and let it run for a bit to warm up. As I sat on the edge of the tub waiting for the right temperature, I thought about how time was escaping me. I had made a huge mistake by not telling Josh about our past sooner, yet it was such an obstacle I couldn't bring myself to get past. There was so much risk associated with what our future held that it seemed to paralyze me.

I got into the shower and let the water run over me for a few minutes contemplating the best plan of action.

After all the close-calls and the 'almosts' when it came to telling Josh the truth, I knew deep down that I needed to tell him today. Today was the last of our little getaway, so I decided to tell him on the ride back. By holding off until the car ride, it wouldn't ruin the rest of our trip and we would be parting ways shortly thereafter, so it enabled him the space that he may need.

I finished my shower quickly, hoping to make it back and get ready for the day before Josh awoke.

"Good morning, mama." Josh greeted me as I entered the bedroom.

"Good morning, sunshine." I said replied, taking in his groggy morning demeanor.

He was so damn cute.

I turned my back to him and gathered my clothes for the day from my suitcase and began to shed my towel to start getting dressed. I angled myself strategically to shield my side from his view. 

He got up from the bed and sauntered over to me, planting a kiss on the freshly showered skin on my shoulder. 

"Hey, I didn't know you have a tattoo," Josh said as I felt his fingers brush down my side, moving my towel more so that he could see more clearly what it read.

Fuck.

My world was about to implode right before my own eyes, and the only person that I could blame was myself.

"Après la pluie ..." he trailed. 

I hiked the towel back up past my breast and scrambled to think of how I was to respond. Maybe there was a chance he didn't remember them? Yet, I wasn't too convinced that that possibility would be reality.

"Oh yeah, that old thing? I um, got it before going off to college it—" I jumped in, beginning to explain the tattoo while being as nondescript as possible. I had told dozens of people its meaning since the day I had gotten it on my body, but the weight that this explanation held was about to come crashing down on me.

His hand reached up and brushed my damp hair behind my ear. 

"It's you." 

I instinctively moved my hand behind my ear, where my hair had previously covered, to touch the zodiac tattoo that he had just revealed, and I froze.

"What?" I said feigning ignorance. 

After all this time, he had finally recognized them both from the night we met and it made me wonder if he had ever shared in Jake's suspicions. I began to sweat. I knew that we would have to have this conversation as soon as possible—and I had been planning on when to break the news ever since I talked to Jake—but I was certainly not prepared for Josh to have made this discovery before I had the chance to come clean to him.