It should surprise me that he knows me this well already.
Shaking, the mug rises.Tea sloshes against the rim, but doesn’t spill.
“Did you ever get caught?”
“A guy almost broke my wrist while I was trying to take his wallet, but he let me go with a warning when he realized he was hurting a kid.”
The mug hovers in the air between us, still now.Holding it is becoming easier.
Lucky smiles when it arrives at his waiting hand.“Ready for something trickier?”
My wide smile mirrors his.“Hell yeah, I am.”
* * *
“Where are we now?”
The beach stretches out as far as I can see, a fine layer of snow dusting the ground.Dead grass climbs the dunes behind us.The ocean knocks against the land like it’s asking for entry.
It’s like standing in someone else’s dream.
Lucky has been silent for a long time.
“It’s, uh”—he blows out a breath—“somewhere my ex used to talk about.His parents grew up 'round here, and they visited a couple times when he was a kid.It was one of the few good memories he was hanging on to.Always said he'd come back someday.So, about a year after I moved to Chance, I packed a bag and drove out; I had this absurd idea he’d be standing here, waiting for me.He wasn’t, of course, but …”
“You wanted to see him again.”
He stares out at the ocean, chewing over his memories.“Yeah.”
Closing the gap, I slip my arms around his waist, holding tight.Lucky hugs back.
I hope, one day, he’ll get to meet his friend here.The view is beautiful.
“I used to think the hard part was over,” I say.“I’d found someone who wanted to be with me, so I was set.I didn’t know the hard part was choosing to stay.”
“Everything good in my life took effort to get.Love’s the biggest win of all if you can find it, so I figure it deserves all of me.All in, through good times and bad.”
I ride the rise and fall of his chest as he takes a deep breath.
“Mac used to say I could form an opinion on anything, but I just liked seeing him riled up.I’d find him in the library, hunched over like a gremlin, hissing at people if they got too close.It took a month of sitting there, talking at him, until he finally cracked.Then he wouldn’t shut up.Fuck, I had known he was smart, but hearing him talk was something else.He just lit up.Most beautiful thing I’d ever seen—before you.”
“You still love him.”I don’t ask because it was obvious from the moment we arrived.This guy is special.A once-in-a-lifetime love.
Lucky turns away from the view, staring deep into my eyes as he raises my hands to his lips.“That’s the great thing about love though; it isn’t limited.I’ll always love him, but it doesn’t mean I can’t feel it for anyone else.”
“I feel the same way.”
A shiver I can’t account to the wind runs through me.When I next blink, we’re back in his apartment, and the burn of his lips against my knuckles lasts the rest of the day.
* * *
We hear the sirens before we see the news.A robbery in action at Chance’s Reserve Bank.At least three assailants are confirmed, but likely more.Hostages are estimated at fifty or more.
“We should help them,” I say.
“I’m loving the gung-ho attitude, but what’s the plan here?Free the hostages, stop the bad guys”—he blinks to life behind me, nosing the sensitive skin under my ear—“get the girl?”
I step away.“I’m serious.We need to help.”
