Austin was like a walking mystery. His late nights at the office had become a regular occurrence, and I'd started to wonder if he was secretly moonlighting as a superhero. You know, the kind who saves the world while the rest of us are binge-watching Netflix and lazily eating Ben and Jerry straight from the carton.

One evening, he stumbled through the door, looking like he'd wrestled with a tornado. His shirt was wrinkled, his tie hung on for dear life, and his hair—usually styled to perfection—had given up entirely. I rushed to him, concern etching lines on my forehead. "oh, my poor baby! What happened?" I asked, my heart doing cartwheels

His sunflower eyes met mine, and I swear, I nearly melted right there in the middle of the kitchen. "Susanna," he said in that low husky voice that I always found so incredibly sexy. "I've been working on something big. Something that will change everything."

My finger traced the faint hickey on his neck as I eyed him skeptically. "This?" I pointed. "Who—"

"You," he interrupted, cupping my face and tucking a strand of blonde hair behind my ear,. "Remember the other night? We were play wrestling, and then we… Well, you know…’’ he smiled seductively and winked at me before wrapping his muscular arms around my waist.

I blinked. Had I really forgotten? Maybe my blonde hair was to blame—it tangled my thoughts as much as it tangled in the wind. "I'm sorry," I whispered. I lowered my blue eyes to the floor before glancing back up at him guiltily.

Austin's lips brushed mine. "Don't be. Elizabeth's wrong. I'm not cheating. I'm building a future—for us."

Elizabeth, my best friend, had her own theories. She believed Austin was either cheating or working undercover for the CIA. "Girl," she'd said, "no one works that late without a reason. Except cheaters. And Batman. ‘’

Elizabeth thought she was so intelligent. But I saw right through her accusations. I knew in my heart she was just jealous because her boyfriend had dumped her months prior and now she was all alone. She thought she could move in on my man. But I refused to let her in accurate assumptions get to me. I knew in my heart that Austin was different. So what if he was a little mysterious? That’s what made him who he was. And it was one of the many reasons I loved him so unconditionally.

As we swayed to imaginary music, I wondered about our love story. Perhaps it was like a hickey—a mark left by stolen moments, a promise etched into skin.

Either way, I decided to embrace it. After all, who needed a boring and predictable relationship when you could have an enigma? As Austin held me close, I whispered, "You're all mine."

And he grinned, that mischievous glint still in his eyes. "And you're the luckiest girl in the world."