I laughed, which turned into a vicious cough. My ribs felt like they were about to break.
“I was saying that I love you. I have for a while now. I just didn’t own it.”
“And now you do?” She pressed her cheek on the back of my hand, looking up at me with those angel eyes.
“Now I am.”
“I’m staying in Los Angeles, you know,” she said, after a pause.
I nodded. “We’ll work around that. You don’t have to change anything for me. Now, tell me something interesting to distract me from feeling like I got hit by every truck on the West Coast.”
“Anything interesting?” Shehmmed.
“Yeah. Anything. Surprise me.”
She pulled her phone out of her green peacoat and typed something out. I watched, fascinated. She hadn’t been able to do that just a few months ago. She was obviously working hard. Her fingers shook, but she smiled. Instinctively, I reached to grab her free hand.
“Ah, here’s a good one.” She shot me an embarrassed smile. “Humans tend to fall in love with people who have a different immune system from theirs, but have similar lung volume, ear lobe length, and metabolic rate.”
I blinked, watching her. “That is the least romantic thing I’ve ever heard.” She giggled.
“And yet, the fact that you’ve read this makes me want to kiss the shit out of you and finish what we started on the sidewalk.”
“So, do.”
And I did.
One year later.
“Ihate this place,” Ransom greets me merrily as I slip into our little Prius.
I snap the safety belt, waving goodbye to Meadow, who is just closing up Misfits and Shadows, and Grady, who watches her doing so longingly.
The night is dark, but Sunset Boulevard dazzles brightly. Twinkling lights stretch their limbs along the boulevard as more businesses open up their gates, turning on their neon signs. The moon hangs high and silvery, a perfect crescent, dangling like an earring.
“You don’t have to suffer it for very long.” I pat his thigh.
Ransom leans in to kiss the side of my neck, his lips brushing their way to mine. He kisses me long and hard, his tongue prodding my lips open, seeking access. I clutch the side of his jaw, deepening our kiss, running out of breath and inhibitions.
This is how we do things, every time he lands in Los Angeles from Chicago, or I go to visit him. We claw at each other like tomorrow never comes.
Like the next time is just a maybe.
Because it is.
Nothing is guaranteed in life.
We learned this the hard way.
When he pulls away, he tucks a lock of my hair behind my ear. “I’ll be suffering long enough. The last thing I want is to go to Texas and play happy family with your sister.”
I make a face, pushing at his chest as he revs the car to life. “Not nice. She’s been trying extra hard.”
“The tagline for her life.”
The car lurches its way toward LAX, where we’ll be boarding a plane to Texas. Hera is getting married…again. This time to a very nice medical technician named Jeff. He coaches the local T-ball team and wants three kids and always asks the elderly ladies for a dance at functions.
In short—he is good. And real.