“Chances are he’s headed back to his apartment,” I tell them, shoving my phone in my pocket.
Farrow nods. “Let’s grab food, and I’ll bring him back a cheesesteak.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Paparazzi follow Maximoff and Farrow as they head towards the wooden stairs and crowds. Strung multi-colored bulbs suddenly switch-on along Woody’s deck, the sun nearly disappeared.
I can’t help but focus on how Maximoff wraps an arm around his husband’s shoulders. How they cave into one another and talk quietly.
A pang returns to my chest.
“You okay?” Jack rolls up beside me. Stepping off the longboard, he keeps a foot on the top so it won’t slide down the sidewalk.
I glance back one more time at my best friend. His husband. Baby. And puppy.
I shouldn’t feelalonewith Jack standing right here. But air separates us. Distance. An unbearable ache that we’re both struggling to close.
As soon as I look back at Highland, I realize he’s not bright and sunny. He shifts, takes a sharp breath, a hand resting on his tensed neck.
“Are you?” I ask him.
He goes to speak but chokes on a word.
Be with me.
I shut my eyes tightly. He is with me, and I can’t pressure him for more. When I open my eyes, the torment in his gaze is exactly what I feel. We’re in the same ball-pit of anguish. Flailing around.
He inhales a big breath.
As he exhales, he asks, “Can you promise me something, Os?”
“Anything.”
“Anything?”
I nod, confident that I’d do just aboutanythingin the world for Jack motherfucking Highland.
His soft laugh sounds breathless. “Okay, promise me that whatever happens next, you won’t shut the window on me. Promise that it’s wide open and I’m on the other side with you—that it’s you and me and anyone who tries to come in, you’ll help me keep out?”
Emotion pricks my eyes.
Strongly, undoubtedly, I tell him, “I promise. It’s Oscar and Jack take on Philly, New York, California, the world—you and me, Long Beach.” I point from my chest to his chest, tears threatening to well.
One already slides down his jaw.
He suddenly, mightily, resoundinglybridges the gap—and his lips are on mine. Time freezes. The world recedes, and we clasp each other’s face and kiss andkisswith soul-bearing passion. Hanging on. Like we’re spinning on an axis and headed for the sky.
Agony vanishes. And a feeling I’ve met once or twice in my life washes over me more powerfully than ever before.
Our foreheads touch as our lips break, arms around one another’s shoulders, and we’re not escaping our embrace yet. He’s smiling brighter. I’m grinning stronger. My heart beats outside my ribcage, and I breathe, “You just kissed me in public, Highland.”
In the middle of a sidewalk.
In front of a packed cheesesteak restaurant.
In front of my friends.
In front of paparazzi.
