Chapter 19 #2
My phone buzzes from my purse, and it reminds me of the other reason why I’m here. I pull back, looking at him to gauge his reaction. “So, I guess I should admit the other reason why I’m here.”
His eyes widen, nervous. “Give it to me.”
“What do you say about hanging out with Emmy and Holden?”
“As in your best friend, Emmy, and my brother, Holden?”
“Those are the ones.”
“As long as you’re there too. I’m in.”
Warm, happy lightness inflates me so much that I could float right up into the sky.
“I’ll be there.” I smile.
He kisses me one last time before turning toward the bathroom to get ready, and I can’t stop smiling, even after the door clicks shut behind him.
Coming to the Bayside Boardwalk, about half an hour past Brighton Bay, feels like stepping straight into that cheesy commercial that played on a loop during my childhood.
I used to watch it in awe, the perfect families eating ice cream, laughing on roller coasters, the ocean glittering behind them like it had its own lighting crew. It looked magical. Like something meant for other people.
I came here once as a teenager and still couldn’t afford much. I wandered through anyway, soaking up the ambience like that alone could fill me up.
When you’re a kid, you think, Someday I’ll go there all the time. Then adulthood hits, and somehow, it’s still not in the budget.
Now I finally get to experience it for myself. Not through a screen, or as some broke teenager passing through.
People are everywhere, laughing, shouting, moving in every direction like the whole place is alive. It smells like the summers I used to dream about, with fried dough, sunscreen, and sea salt thick in the air.
Emmy’s already dragging Holden toward a stand selling those ridiculous graphic shirts, with cartoon abs or fake bikini bodies slapped across the front.
She holds one up, cackling. Holden, clearly entertained, grabs one with a printed hairy chest and gold chain, then casually tosses it over his shoulder to purchase one of his own.
Theo and I wander for a while, splitting a pretzel the size of our heads while we people-watch from a faded bench.
Somehow, he wins one of those old-school carnival games I always thought were rigged.
His ring lands clean on the bottle, and even the booth worker looks surprised.
When he tells me to pick a prize, I point to a wonky-eyed cheetah.
Theo hands it over like he’s solved world peace, and this stuffed animal is proof.
Eventually, we make our way to the Ferris wheel.
As we rise higher, the ocean beyond the boardwalk sparkles in the sunlight, the people below shrinking into ant-like dots.
Everything feels quiet up here, like the world is calm and suspended.
When our gondola pauses at the very top, Theo and I glance at each other and smile.
He feels it too.
This rare feeling that’s unstoppable and radiating between us.
His hand is warm in mine, his thumb brushing slowly across my knuckles, and his expression so content it makes my chest ache in the best way.
I used to watch those perfect families on TV and wonder what it’d feel like to belong somewhere like that. Now here, beside the man I’m falling for, and my two friends goofing around below us, I feel like I’ve achieved some version of that.
It doesn’t have to look perfect to feel like home. It can be messy and unexpected and still somehow be everything I didn’t know I needed.
By the time we climb off the ride, the sun’s sliding lower in the sky and the boardwalk is bathed in gold.
Down below, Emmy and Holden are still going strong.
They’ve spent most of the afternoon swapping sarcastic commentary and teaming up during every game, like they’ve known each other longer than a few hours.
I catch the way Emmy tries not to smile when Holden offers her the last bite of his corn dog, and the way Holden watches her like she’s the most interesting thing on the boardwalk—and not because she nearly tripped getting off the bumper cars.
The four of us trail toward the funnel cake stand with its bright red, vintage carnival-style exterior. The smell of powdered sugar hits us before we even reach the window, already reeling us in like cartoon characters floating after a pie.
Theo is passionate about very few things in life besides work.
But when it comes to funnel cake, I learn he’s a man possessed, devouring two plates in five minutes flat, raving between bites about how it’s fried to perfection.
It’s admirable. It’s borderline adorable.
And it makes me want to kiss him in the middle of the boardwalk.
Holden and Emmy sit on one side of the outdoor table, with Theo and me on the other as we finish off what’s left of our food.
Theo, having already demolished both his plates, leans back with one arm draped around me, his fingers tracing lazy patterns against my hip like he’s not even aware he’s doing it.
He’s never not touching me—threading his fingers through mine, curling an arm around my waist, brushing his knuckles along my leg under the table. The entire time we’ve been here, we’ve been quietly tangled together.
I expected him to keep some distance in public, to be cautious with whatever this is between us. Maybe because of work. Maybe because that’s just who he is. But apparently, he’s either given up or come to terms with it.
Emmy takes a dramatic slurp from her drink, then sets it down with a pointed look.
“So,” she says, cocking her head. “Anything you two want to tell us?”
I grab Theo’s thigh under the table. “I’m not sure what you’re referring to,” I say, fully aware of what she’s hinting at.
She’s fishing—for some grand declaration of our secret-turned-not-so-secret relationship, at least here in a town where no one knows us.
Holden leans back, arms crossed as he studies his brother. “I’ll admit it, I didn’t think this was smart. I’m still not convinced it is. But after today, I can see it. You work well together. So, I’m happy for you, bro.” He grins wickedly now. “Just never thought I’d see the day you went soft.”
Theo flips him off.
Emmy smacks Holden’s arm. “Rude,” she mutters, rolling her eyes.
Holden meant it as a dig, but I feel proud anyway. How can I not? I’m sitting next to the man who keeps the world at arm’s length, and somehow, he’s chosen me.
I grin. “Sounds like you might be a little jealous, Holden. You lonely or something?”
“I mean, yeah. Obviously. After Angelica ran off with that guy in the beret, I vowed to swear off women for a full year.”
“A year?” Emmy nearly chokes. “Please. You couldn’t go a month.”
“Wanna bet?” he shoots back. “One year. Easy.”
Across the table, Theo and I glance at each other like we’re watching a live tennis match.
What have we done, letting these two loose in the same environment?
“I’ve seen you flirt with at least four women today,” Emmy says. “Two of them gave you their number. While I was standing right next to you.”
“You wanna be the third?” Holden flashes her a grin. It probably works on most people, but Emmy? She might look like a real-life Barbie Princess, but that girl’s got claws.
“Hard pass.” She turns back to me, grinning. “Anyway. You were about to tell us something? Something very life-changing and disgustingly romantic, perhaps?”
I glance up at Theo, eyes widening just enough to silently ask: What the hell am I supposed to say to that?
It’s not like we’ve been subtle. We’ve practically been glued together all day. There’s no hiding that something’s going on.
We’ve talked about it briefly. We’ve made vague promises to “figure it out.”
But nothing about this is simple.
Not when I work for him.
“We’ll tell you everything,” I say, glancing between Emmy and Holden. “Just maybe after Holden loses that bet.”
“Hey!” he protests, but Emmy’s already smirking like she’s won.
Next to me, Theo leans in, his fingers brushing mine under the table. It’s quiet and grounding, a silent reassurance.
And suddenly, I’m okay with not having all the answers yet.
Because deep down, I think I already know how this ends.