The elevator doors clicked open, and we stepped out onto the Skydeck.
In the time that had passed, we’d gotten closer and closer to sunset, which was why I’d chosen this slot specifically. The glass everywhere showcased the breadth of the city in such a magnificent way it held me captive. Cay brushed past me to walk straight for the windows ahead of us. The others on the elevator all dispersed throughout the space, some heading straight for the ledge while others wanted to carve out their own corner. My body was on a collision course with Cay, so I automatically followed him.
The sunset had just begun, the first golden tendrils stretching across the horizon. I slid beside him as we both gazed out, and my heart continued at a roughshod speed I wasn’t sure I could keep up with. The gilt light glided over his features, highlighting his sharp nose, the way his dark eyes sparkled with wonder. I was supposed to be staring at the marvel of our city spread out before us this high up, but right now he was all I could see.
“Damn, this is beautiful.” His hand plastered to the glass as he just scanned over the city.
For a moment, we both stood there watching over it, and I got flashbacks to the way we first met. “Like we’re sentinels over the city,” I murmured, not sure if I wanted him to hear me or not.
Cay’s eyes crinkled at the edges with his grin. “Except I’m pretty sure your city’s Gotham and mine’s Metropolis.”
“I liked the costume swap better too,” I responded, that Halloween party scorched into my memories. The need to claim him here, to tell him everything that was burning in my mind grew to the point of overwhelming.
This man deserved to know how special he was. He deserved to be kept, and if he wanted me back, well, hell, I’d keep him forever.
But he also deserved to be loved in public, by someone not afraid to claim him.
The line to the ledge was short at the moment, and my gaze snagged on the sign: under three people and you had sixty seconds out there.
Now or never.
I snagged his hand. “Come on. Over here.”
Cay followed me as I led us in the direction of the ledge. At that moment, I didn’t care that my hand was sweaty in his, if my idea was cheesy as hell or not. No, I just wantedto show him everything I’d been keeping locked inside for so long.
The trio who were in front of us in line stepped into the ledge, oohing and ahhing over the slice of glass that hung directly over the city below. The peaches and reds of the sky glowed furiously across the horizon now, breathtaking in their beauty against the landscape of this city that had imprinted itself on my soul.
And then the trio stepped out, and it was our turn. Game time.
My hand still in Cay’s, I led him into the ledge, my stomach swooping the moment we stood overtop the city, nothing but a pane of glass keeping us from oblivion.
I looked up in Cay’s eyes, and at once I was transported back to that rooftop, to that moment of discovery that had sparked between us, setting this all in motion.
I wrapped my hand around his nape and leaned in, kissing him for all the world to see.
Damn the consequences.
Chapter Eighteen
Cay
Ididn’t know what to expect when Beck had told me to meet him downtown, but a romantic and touristy date with Beck was not it. I’d hoped for that, but my dreamer attitude had never gotten me far in relationships. Lowering my expectations was a sure way not to get hurt and set my apartment on fire again. As if that advice ever worked before.
The sudden feel of Beck’s hand in mine as he steered us toward the line to the Skydeck had me gasping for air. We were in public. Without masks or costumes. When something was too good to be true in a relationship, it meant I was being gently let go.
Oh god, no. Panic rose in me, my stomach flip-flopping as I swayed on my feet.
Was he giving me one last good memory before he told me he couldn’t do this anymore? Was this a beautiful good-bye?
At least he was doing it with style.
When we stepped onto the ledge with only glass separating us from the city below, we were Superman and Batman again. I squeezed Beck’s sweaty palm, bracing myself for what he was about to say. When his eyes met mine, I knew that setting fire to my apartment had been nothing compared to what would happen to me once Beck was gone from my life.
I held my breath.
Beck’s hand was on my nape, caressing the hairs there, and his face was so close I saw the texture of his eyelashes.
Beck’s lips trembled, his eyes filled with so much vulnerability I could cry. This wasn’t the end. It was the beginning.
