Eli chuckled. "Bold of you to assume that."
She arched a sharp brow. "Bold ofyouto assume I didn't just supervise you long enough to confirm my suspicions." Before either of us could protest further, she walked away and called over her shoulder, "Behave yourselves!"
And just like that, she disappeared into the crowd.
I glanced at Eli. "Did we just get played?"
"I think we did." He grinned and reached for my hand again, lacing our fingers as he tugged me gently forward. "Come on. We've got a couple hours to kill before midnight. Let's find something to do."
We didn't have much of a plan. We just kind of wandered. Stopped at a few stalls, debated whether the overpriced festival food was actually worth it. We even caught a street performer cracking a flaming whip in increasingly dramatic flourishes – all while narrating in a truly awful French accent. The air smelled of fried dough and sugar, and the laughter of passing strangers blended with the distant hum of live music.
Then, just as I was tearing off a bite of the soft pretzel I'd caved and bought, I spotted a familiar face and almost choked on a laugh. "Oh, my god."
Eli turned to me. "What?"
I pointed. Mrs Cavanagh had reappeared in the crowd – but she wasn't alone. She stood a fair distance away, deep in conversation with none other than Mr Hodges. Not polite neighbourly conversation, either. No, they were standing close. Laughing. Leaning into each other.
A slow grin spread across Eli's face. "No way. That's your landlord, isn't it?"
I was already shaking from trying to hold in my laughter, so I just nodded.
"Oh, this is gold." He pulled out his phone, and I caught a glimpse of the message he typed out:Hope you're "behaving yourself," Mrs C.
I snorted. "You're actually sending that?"
"Obviously." He hit send immediately, and he got a response back almost as fast.
You nosy little shite.
I doubled over laughing, and Eli cackled beside me. "She didn't even deny it."
"She knew she was caught." Still grinning, he typed out a quick reply:Takes one to know one.
His phone soon buzzed again. This time, it was just a middle finger emoji.
Eli let out a bark of laughter. "Oh, she isfuming."
We drifted back into the flow of the crowd, still laughing as Mrs Cavanagh sent a few more snarky replies. The festival buzzed around us – voices louder now as the press of people began to drift toward the main field where the fireworks would go off soon. Somewhere nearby, a group of kids suddenly got very noisy and took off at a run.
Eli veered slightly off course. His attention caught on a small vendor stand that sold mostly small handmade keychains, charms, and other trinkets meant to be impulse buys.
I watched as he plucked something from the displayboard and looked it over. I couldn't see what it was, but he soon turned to the vendor and handed over a few coins. When he came back, he held it out to me. It looked like a small silver compass charm, the kind meant to clip onto a phone case. The needle inside was just decorative and painted on, and the thing was clearly cheaply made.
I stared at it for a second before carefully taking it from him. It was light in my fingers, smooth and cool to the touch. "What's this for?"
He shrugged, but there was something softer in his expression. "Seemed fitting."
"Why?"
His arm slipped around my neck and pulled me in. To anyone watching, it probably looked like nothing more than two people trying to hear each other over the noise. But he leaned in close enough that his breath tickled my ear when he spoke.
"Because you're the one constant I've got," he said quietly, his voice low enough that only I could hear. "No matter how lost I get or how far I wander off, I've always known you'll be here. You keep me pointed in the right direction."
Heat crept up my neck as his hand came up to tip my chin so he could see my face. He leaned in and pressed a light kiss to my lips, then pulled back to meet my gaze, his thumb tracing along my jaw. "You're my way home, Ro. Always have been."
My breath caught. The way he was looking at me, the gentleness in his touch... I had to clear my throat and look away before I did something stupid in the middle of a crowded street. "Christ, Eli. I think that's the corniest thing you've ever said to me."
He grinned and stepped back, but not before giving my cheek one last brush with his lips. "Maybe. But it's true."
