“Shit, sorry, this angle is weird. Let’s see, what if I…” I started as I shifted, maneuvering so I was balanced over him, legs on either side of his hips. “This should work.”
“Yeah?” Wes asked, his voice going weird and breathy, I met his gaze to find the blue of his eyes swallowed by inky pupils.
“Are you okay?” I hovered over him, his skin seeming the heat wherever we touched.
“Perfect.” He nodded slowly, Adam’s apple bobbing. “You’re perfect.”
“I could move if you need.”
“No. Stay.” His hands landed on my waist, locking me in place and not showing any signs of moving.
I started again. One hand on his chest to help keep myself steady as I worked. It was sloppy thanks to how my focus fizzled out each time he shifted beneath me. I dreaded thinking how it would heal that way, retaining its wobbly crescent moon shape.
We switched and he repeated the same for me, but with a sun on the inside of my arm. I wanted mine to be visible so I could look down anytime I needed a reminder of him.
From that night on, he was pressed into my skin.
13
Avery
September 2025
Irub the crook of my arm, my finger tracing the warped circle at the heart of the sun, as we slowly descend over LA. I’d thought of covering it up before. Burying it under another design, but on some level, even if I did that, I would still feel the ghost of it etched into my skin.
The plane jolts as we hit the runway, my teeth grinding together with the impact.
“Oof, you had this great contemplative thing going for a second there,” Kendal chimes from the seat across the aisle she’s been filming me from.
We’ve spent most of the year prepping. Well, mostly her digging up old articles. Piecing together what the media thinks happened with me and Fool’s Gambit so the documentary can be in conversation with the assumptions. She’s also reached out to Dave and Martin to start interviewing them.
On some level, it’s hard to believe this is really coming together, but on another I know I’ll have to start telling my side of the story, sitting down with Kendal between tour rehearsalsand then later when she joins us on the road. The truth is easy to promise, but telling it? I’m not so sure.
“I bet you’ll find a way to use it without including the part where I look like shit,” I say.
“I really am just that good.” She lowers her camera so it rests on her lap.
“I sure hope so, otherwise you’re an expensive person to keep around,” I joke.
The plane slows and pulls to a stop, farther down the plane Lydia’s arms poke out over the top of a seat as she stretches. She won’t be with us for the duration of the tour, but she’ll be around for the first few weeks and then at a handful of shows.
She stands and meets us at our seats. “I’m going to meet with Derek and the tour manager to make sure everything is up to our specifications. Avery, your ride should be here to take you around for the day.”
“What am I getting, some sort of tour of the city? I’d rather just settle in and sleep.”
“We’re sending you off to look at tour costumes. Everything we currently have is from your old shows. It’s good to get this done now so any alterations can be made.”
Stairs are lowered to exit the charter plane. Kendal heads out first, followed by me with Lydia trailing behind.
My hand flies to the railing as my foot nearly misses the first step as I blanch at the sight of what’s waiting on the tarmac.
Wes leans against a beat-up silver Honda CR-V. And somehow, he makes it look intentional, dressed in black shorts and a soccer jersey style top that’s cut so when he raises his hand to wave, the hem creeps up his torso and reveals the dusting of hair on his tanned stomach.
“What is he doing here?” I say.
“He called me up, told me you two agreed to a truce of sorts, and we made a plan.”
“You’re telling me he’s my ride?”
