I was already on my feet, but Ryder stayed sitting for a moment, our hands still clasped.
I glanced down at him. “What?”
A small smile curved his lips, but he just shook his head. “Nothing.” He tugged on my hand, once, then made to let go. Suddenly I didn’t want that.
“Hey,” I said. I leaned down, and he narrowed his eyes.
“What are you up to, future Mrs. Bailey?”
“This.” I kissed him, and knew he hadn’t expected it, because he tensed up for just a second before his mouth softened and he kissed me back.
This was where I belonged. This was us, together. And my world, spinning on the axis of us, set everything right, made everything good.
When I pulled away, his eyes were soft. “What was that for?”
“I love you,” I said, still not straightening fully, wanting to keep this moment just for us. “You know that, don’t you?”
If I hadn’t known him for all my life, I wouldn’t have noticed the slight hitch in his breathing, wouldn’t have noticed the tightening of the skin at the corners of his eyes.
“I do. And I love you too,” he said.
I nodded, but that hitch had made my world wobble again. The fear of not being able to get out of town fast enough collided with the fear of not doing my job to keep Ordinary safe. My stomach turned.
“Hey,” he said, seeing me as well as I had seen him. “We’ll figure it out. It’s a vacation, Laney. That’s supposed to be a fun thing, remember? No stress.”
I nodded, but everything in me tossed and turned, as restless as the January rain.
He stood, keeping our hands together, as unwilling as I to release this connection. “What were you talking to Than about?” he asked, as we joined the line at the sign-up sheets.
“Frigg’s ready to pass the baton.” Since we were among humans who didn’t know about the supernatural people in their town, discretion was necessary.
“Who’s next?” he asked. That was something else I loved about Ryder. He had only found out about the magical, godly, supernatural side of Ordinary a couple years ago. But he’d immediately become both wildly curious about it and also wildly protective.
I gave his hand a squeeze. “Than.”
“Ah,” he said, catching on. “First time, right?”
“Yep.”
“Expecting trouble?”
“I don’t think so, but well. First time.”
“Mmmm,” he said. “When?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“All right. Any plans after that?”
“Some things have been stolen and there’s something weird about some storage units…”
He raised an eyebrow and just looked at me. It was devastating.
An apology almost escaped my mouth, but I wasn’t even sure what I was apologizing for. I couldn’t help that I was a required part of the powers being transferred to a new resting place. I couldn’t help the thefts or the general town weirdness.
“Dinner?” I asked, holding tight.
“Yes?”
