“We’ll replace it,” Olivia said, like it was no big deal. Rory could barely hear her, eyes locked on Nash, who did not look comforted by Olivia’s reassurance.
“Hall,” Nash said, nodding toward the door. Rory carried the broken lens with him, feeling like he was going to have a meeting with the principal. Nash might be a grumpy bastard sometimes, but he was neverscary. That was the only thing keeping Rory from pissing himself.
“I’m sorry,” Rory said, voice barely above a whisper. He held the lens out to Nash, hands shaking.
Nash accepted the lens in one hand, and pinched the bridge of his nose in the other. He took a deep breath and exhaled for so long Rory thought he must be counting it.
“I’m sorry,” Nash said. It was not what Rory was expecting.
“Huh?” Did Rory need to remind him that his careless action of not putting the macro lens away the moment he removed it from the camera was the reason it was broken?
“This job is overwhelming to me. This situation”—he gestured between the two of them—” is overwhelming. I don’t want anything to go wrong. I’m not good at shit like this. Sam is the one who keeps everything together, and I don’t know how to do that.”
Rory touched his cheek, guiding his face so they could look at each other. “Everything is going to be alright.”
“I know. We have equipment insurance. That’s fine. It wasn’t the most expensive of our lenses by a long shot. I just…feel unsteady out here.” Rory put a hand on his forearm, letting him know he could be there to steady him.
“What did you mean by the situation between us is overwhelming?”
“Because it’s embarrassing to be harboring feelings for you still, when it was clear you wanted a fling. I don’t know how to?—”
“Back up. What do you mean I wanted a fling?”
“That night. You left while I was asleep.”
“Yeah, because my best friend was at the emergency room with his kid and I had to go let his dog out. I left a note, and you never called so?—”
“I didn’t see a note.”
“It was on that little pad of like, three sheets of paper every hotel leaves on the desk, with the shitty branded ballpoint pen that barely works.”
“Why would I have looked at the desk?” Nash asked. It was a good question. Rory probably wouldn’t have looked there either. Shit. “I woke up and you weren’t there and my heart…dropped. I left pretty much right after I woke up.”
“Oh my God. Nash. Fuck. I should have put it on the bathroom sink or something.”
“We didn’t…for a whole year we thought…”
“At Sam’s wedding I thought for sure we had something,” Rory said, heart doing a little flutter as hope crept in.
“We had something,” Nash confirmed.
Rory couldn’t help the smile breaking over his face, cheeks so high up he had to squint. “We could…we could have something now.”
“Yeah,” Nash said, a whisper, like any sound, any movement would pop the bubble they were in.
Rory thought he would have to make the first move, to get some momentum going between the two of them, but it was Nash who wrapped a hand around the back of Rory’s neck and pulled him into a kiss.
It was as good as Rory remembered—better, probably, since it felt like relief. Like there had been a hurricane minutes ago, and the ocean of his feelings was now glass-smooth. He pulled Nash in at the waist, Nash’s hand holding the camera lens pressing between their bodies. Rory broke their kiss to laugh.
“I forgot about the lens.”
Nash looked down at it like he’d never seen it in his life. “Same.”
“We should get back in there.”
“I can’t believe we have to go work for twelve hours now,” Nash grumbled. Rory was used to his grumpy face. He wasn’t used to him looking grumpy because he had to wait twelve hours before he could kiss Rory again.
Rory caught Nash’s lips in one more kiss, and smacked another on his cheek.
“Let’s go photograph some lovebirds.”
