"Baxter! Baxter, come!"
A woman's voice from the trail.
The woman rounded the corner onto the bridge. Fifties, fleece vest, hiking boots. She clipped a leash onto the retriever and gave us an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that. He's friendly."
"No worries," Alex said. "Great dog."
"Beautiful day," she said.
"Sure is," Alex said looking at me with a smile.
She walked on. Baxter followed, glancing back at us once with his tongue hanging out like he knew exactly what he'd interrupted.
We looked at each other across the bridge.
"Baxter," I said.
"Good dog."
"Terrible timing."
"The worst."
We stood there. The creek running below. The leaves drifting in across the sky. The last of the afternoon light going gold and long.
I wanted to stay. Wanted to stay on this bridge in this town where nobody knew us and kiss him until the sun went down and the stars came out and nobody in the world cared.
But the world cared. It always cared.
"We should head back," Alex said.
"Yeah."
***
The drive home was quiet.
Not bad quiet. Full quiet. The kind of silence that comes after a day where everything important has already been said and the only thing left is to sit with it.
The flannel was warm against my arms. Alex drove with one hand on the wheel and one hand on mine. The radio was off. We didn't need it.
The sun was going down. Late autumn dusk—the sky turning purple at the edges, the trees black silhouettes against the last gold light. The road unwinding south toward Ashford.
I pulled out my phone. Opened the photo.
Two guys on a bridge. The flannel. The grins. The light. Alex leaning into me like it was the most natural thing in the world.
The only photo of us that existed. The only proof.
I stared at it for a long time. Then put the phone away.
The closer we got to Ashford, the quieter we got. I could feel it—the walls rebuilding, the performance loading, the distance that campus required settling back over us like weather rollingin. Alex's hand was still on mine but his grip was tighter. Holding on to what was about to end.
The Riverside campus appeared in the distance—coming closer.
Soon, Alex pulled around behind the athletic building. The same spot he'd picked me up that morning. He put the car in park. Left the engine running.
We sat there.
