Chapter 04 ZEKE
I didn’t know what possessed me to invite Jericho over, but he accepted so enthusiastically that I was glad I did.
Once Sadie was ready to continue, Jericho hopped up to sit on the low-slung branch and pulled me in by the open front of my shirt until he could pin me between his knees. My face heated for the hundredth time in the last half hour, but our interactions were getting easier, less nervous. I didn’t hesitate to slide my arms over his shoulders, or to play my fingers through the short hair at the nape of his neck when he leaned into the touch.
“That’s nice,“
he murmured as his eyes slid closed. “Going to put me to sleep if you keep this up for too long, though.”
“We definitely don’t want that,“
I chuckled. “I mean, you’re small enough. I could lug you around over my shoulder for the rest of the shoot, but I doubt that would make for good photos.”
His eyes snapped open, and he grinned up at me. “I would let you pick me up anyway. You know, for a couple of photos.”
It was Sadie’s turn to laugh. “That could be fun, if you want to try.”
After a quick glance over at her, I bent down and grabbed Jericho around the waist to sling him over my shoulder like a potato sack. He squeaked and fisted his hands in the back of my shirt until I straightened.
“Well?“
I adjusted my grip on his legs when he bent his knees and shifted so my shoulder wasn’t digging into his ribs. “Is it everything you thought it would be?”
“Man, the air’s thin up here,“
Jericho said through a snicker.
“I’m not above dropping you,“
I said flatly.
He tipped his head back and twisted just enough to whisper near my ear, “You wouldn’t dare.”
No, I wouldn’t.
Once Sadie got a few photos, I eased Jericho back to his feet and fixed his hair when he pushed his hood back again. We let her rearrange us a couple more times and snap a few more pictures before we were once more on the move to our last location.
He kept hold of my hand again, and I was content to let him. At least my palms weren’t clammy with nerves anymore. We followed Sadie’s directions down the trail in companionable quiet until a bridge came into view around a bend.
It looked impressive in the golden light, with its tall pilings and support beams crossed in an X over the top like the perfect frame for our final photos. At the opposite end of the bridge, the first hints of sunset red made for a beautiful backdrop to the yellow and orange leaves that shivered in the faint breeze.
The wooden planks creaked beneath us as Jericho dragged me to the middle of the bridge and pulled me to him. He let the momentum carry him back until my body pinned him to the railing, and then he nipped his bottom lip between his teeth. I was quickly learning that meant he was holding something back.
“What?“
I asked softly, curling my arms around his back to cross over the top of the railing.
One of his hands slid up my chest until his palm cupped my jaw.
My heart lurched.
“Come down here,“
he said, just as soft.
I leaned in, and he tipped his forehead against mine when I got close enough. His eyes fluttered closed, and for several long moments, he just breathed, slow and even. Comfortable and at peace. Aside from the chirp of crickets and the faint click of the camera shutter, the woods were silent around us.
I didn’t want the moment to end. This afternoon had been the balm I hadn’t known I needed to ease my anxiety. If I could bottle this quiet contentment and bring it with me to Boston, I would.
When Jericho’s eyes opened again, he struggled to focus on me so close, and a soft smile spread across his lips. “Hi,“
he breathed.
Somewhere over the last hour, I’d forgotten we were strangers. That we barely knew anything about each other, and we might not ever meet again after tonight. But for once, I wasn’t boxed in by a future that felt inevitable. I was rooted in the now, and I planned to stay here as long as I could.
“Would it be okay if I kissed you?“
I whispered.
His smile dropped away, replaced with a sort of wide-eyed surprise, and he gave the faintest of nods.
“I think I would like that.”
I slid a hand up to rest against the back of his head, then closed the scant distance between us to press my lips against his. He tasted like coffee and chocolate and cinnamon. A giddy sort of frisson swept over my skin and made my hair stand on end, and I pulled him closer.
His other arm curled around my waist as he pushed up onto his tiptoes and into the kiss. I lost track of how long it went on before he dropped back onto his heels and smiled sheepishly up at me. Then he buried his face in my chest and cinched both arms around my waist to keep me from pulling away.
“Too much?“
I murmured into his hair.
He shook his head and mumbled against my shirt, “It was nice. We should do it again sometime.”
I chuckled. “A little hard to do that if you hide from me.”
He pulled back and puffed a breath to try to blow his hair out of his face. “Not hiding,“
he said, still avoiding my eyes. “Regaining my composure.”
“Composure is overrated.“
I pushed his hair back. “I like you a little undone.”
A noise halfway between a groan and a whine escaped him, and his face flushed redder than I’d seen it yet. “That’s unfair,“
he grumbled. “I can’t be the only one here who isn’t composed.”
Leaning down again, I ghosted my lips over his forehead. “I assure you, I am far from composed right now.”
“You could have fooled me.”
“I’m putting on a good face for Sadie,“
I said, loud enough to carry to where she crouched at the end of the bridge.
She laughed.
“All right, you two, I think I’ve got what I need, and we should get back before it gets too much darker.“
She snapped her lens cap on and draped the camera strap around her neck. “I’ll show you a few of my favorites when we get back to the parking lot.”
We let her lead this time, and even without the camera on us, Jericho and I gravitated together until his fingers hooked in mine. It felt natural, like we’d been doing it for ages.
I planned to enjoy it for as long as it lasted.
Back in the parking lot, Jericho’s brow crinkled when he saw only his truck and Sadie’s rental.
“You didn’t drive?” he asked.
“No, my neighbor dropped me off. She said she didn’t trust me not to chicken out at the last minute if I drove myself. I planned to text her to come get me, but if you still wanted to come meet Murph—”
“Yes!“
he said quickly. “I can give you a ride.”
Sadie gestured us over to where she was perched on the hood of her car. “Come here, let me show you these.”
Jericho and I broke apart and leaned in on either side of her while she flipped slowly between the last couple of pictures she’d taken at the bridge. She’d captured the exact moment our lips met, backlit by the setting sun and framed by the bridge, and I knew that was a memory I’d keep for a very long time.
With the promise to send us the final files in a few weeks, and wishes of safe travels all around, Sadie slid into her car and headed down the drive toward the road. She waved out the open window, and then we were alone.
“So. Murph,“
Jericho said. He tugged his keys out of his back pocket and jingled them like I was a cat he was trying to lure in.
I snickered. “Yeah. I’ll give you directions.”
Once we were out on the road, I discretely shot a text to Maura to let her know I didn’t need her to come get me. I begged her to stay in her apartment and let us get into mine without interruption. She responded with just two emojis: wide eyes, and the grinning devil. I wasn’t sure whether that was an affirmative or not.
Lucky for me, we arrived to an empty hallway. No Maura in sight, though I knew she was plastered against the peep hole on her door, breathing heavily as she watched me unlock mine and usher Jericho inside with haste. She’d barge in before the night ended to get all the details. I only hoped she’d wait until he was gone.
I flicked on the lights when I stepped inside behind him, and he gasped when Murph hopped into view around the couch.
“Oh my gods, he’s so small! I know you said he was small, but I still wasn’t expecting him to be so little!”
I chuckled and scooped the white and orange rabbit up. “He’s average for his breed,“
I said, which only made Jericho giggle.
He reached out a tentative hand and let Murph sniff his fingertips before rubbing his fluffy cheek. A grin spread wide on his face, crinkling the corners of his eyes and the bridge of his nose.
“He’s so soft.”
“He’s an excellent snuggler, too.“
I held Murph out to him. “You want to hold him?”
Jericho nodded quickly and stood still as a statue while I situated the rabbit in his arms. And when Murph nudged his hand to ask for pets, I swore Jericho’s lip wobbled.
I guided him to the couch, and he waited for me to settle before tucking himself under my arm so he could lean against me. Murph wriggled and shifted until he could flop in Jericho’s lap and dangle his back feet into mine.
“I wish I had his chill,“
Jericho said with a chuckle.
“You and me both.”
He stroked Murph’s head between his ears. “Thanks for letting me meet him. And, you know, for signing up for the stranger session so I could meet you, too.“
He tipped his head back to look up at me. “I know neither of us is here for much longer, but I’m glad we did this.”
“So am I.”
We spent the next hour comparing moving plans and dates, and commiserating about the stresses of ending one chapter to start another. He was going home, and I was off to a state I’d never even visited before. Two very different adventures in very different places, and a shame they weren’t closer together. I was glad to have had the chance to get to know him, even just a little. We’d be new versions of ourselves soon, changed by the next parts of our individual stories, but with the way we collided today, I knew we’d take a piece of each other with us when we ricocheted off one another. Fond memories of a stranger who was, for a short time, not a stranger at all.
It was dark out by the time we called it a night. I walked Jericho to the door, Murph tucked under my arm, and we paused with the door swung wide.
“I had a good time with you today,“
Jericho said, playing with Murph’s floppy ears.
“So did I.”
He chewed on his lip a moment before he looked up at me. “Could I drag you away from packing for an evening and cook you dinner sometime this week? And, maybe, keep you company while you pack sometimes?“
He smiled sheepishly. “It would be a crime not to make the best of your last two weeks here.”
“I think I would like that,” I said.
He bounced up onto his toes and grabbed the collar of my shirt to tug me down to meet him halfway for a brief, heated kiss. His cheeks were pink when he pulled back.
“Tomorrow,“
he said as he backed down the hall. “Four o’clock. I’m picking you up.”
“I’ll be here,“
I promised.
I watched him disappear down the stairwell at the end of the hall, then retreated back into my apartment and closed the door behind myself. Murph wriggled, and I let him loose again.
Before I could even turn back to engage the locks, I heard Maura’s door open and close across the hall. I swung my own open again to find her on the other side, fist raised and poised to knock.
She squeezed inside without invitation and stooped to love on Murph. When she glanced back up at me, her grin looked way too much like that stupid devil emoji she’d sent earlier: smug. Pleased that she’d been the catalyst to such a good—and eventful—evening.
There was a less than zero chance that she would milk this for years, knowing her, but I couldn’t bring myself to be annoyed. I was too grateful.
“All right, Dr. Harrington,“
she said, ushering me toward the couch. “Sit your ass down and give me all the details.”