Oh wow. I couldn’t process it. Such a plain, simple object. “Weird to think that if I hadn’t come inside the record store, we might have never…”
“Yeah,” he agreed lightly. “Maybe. But I choose to believe we would’ve found our way to each other.”
We stood there together for a moment, watching each other.
“Is it still here?” I asked. “What’s between us?”
“Do you think it is?”
“I want it to be,” I admitted in a whisper, clutching the record.
We blinked at each other, both holding our breath.
“Let’s find out,” he whispered, and put his hands on my cheeks. As warm as my skin was, his was warmer. He bent low to capture my mouth with his and kissed me. Softly, trembling. It was unsure and a little desperate, but when I kissed him back, everything inside me lit up and caught fire.
It was warm and good, andhewas good, and yes.
Oh, yes.
It was still there.
“I’m sorry for leaving you at the lake,” I whispered against his lips. “I had to go.”
“I understand,” he murmured, curling a hand around the back of my neck. “But I still love you, Jane. Just tell me that you still love me.”
“I didn’t realize how much until right this second,” I said. “I don’t think I can wait until next summer to be together.”
He kissed my head over and over, sweet and divine kisses,pulling me closer. “Thank the saints.Thatwas a fucking terrible idea.”
“Can we try to figure out a new plan?”
“I told you I’d wait for you,” he said in a low voice. “All you had to do was tell me you were ready by posting photos of bakery desserts, and I’d come runnin’. Let’s make a new plan.”
“Okay, but I have… reading. Studying. Classes.” Ugh. Word-pixie!
“School.”
“School,”I said, relieved to be in possession of the word again. “I’m on a path with school. I’ve got everything mapped out.”
He let his forehead drop against mine as I held the record against his chest. “Understood. Why don’t we compare notes for future plans and see if we can’t make it work? My grandmother’s couch in Glendale is always free on the weekends if that would help.”
Suddenly, the world looked a little brighter.
“It’s never going to be easy, you know,” he said. “Eddie is my brother, and he’s always going to be there. We’re all connected and share a past, so we have to deal with that.”
A bit of fear flashed through me. I knew what he was saying was right, but it was still scary. I remembered how I felt those weeks after Serj’s surgery, stuck between the two brothers, and I didn’t want to feel like that again. But I knew that wasn’t up to me alone.
“I get it,” I told him. “And I’m willing to put in the work if you are.”
He nodded, and for a moment, jittery excitement stilled my tongue.
“What would you say to some Second Christmas festivities?” he asked. “It’s with my obnoxious family, but we’re a little more behaved now than we were when you last saw us, thanks to a lot of therapy. My father and I can actually stand to be in the same room as each other for up to two whole hours at a stretch. Besides that, I think you’re already used to our brand of kooky.”
Yes, I was. Bring on the kook.
“Oh!” he said, moving back from me to shrug off his jacket as Frida pawed at his leg. “I almost forgot. Your request…”
After some awkward struggling—and some embarrassment on my part—he managed to unbutton the top few buttons of his shirt and tug down the cotton to show me his bare shoulder.
