14. Harper
14
A bout fifteen minutes into our walk down the Brooklyn Bridge toward the Manhattan side, August and I stopped to admire the view. We were right near the pylons and it was hard to see much with all the cables and nets surrounding both sides of the pedestrian walkway, but I managed to get some amazing shots with my phone.
August tugged me out of the way of a biker. I leaned into his warmth. His strong bicep around me protectively.
This was not what I was expecting when I came by last night.
But August had this way of surprising me ever since that night at the bar.
“All this time, I’ve been admiring the view of the bridge from the city streets, never realizing that it’s so much more magnificent looking out of it.” I wasn’t sure if I was making any sense, but then August basically summed it up for me in his own words.
“The city is much more attractive from afar, I agree,” he chuckled.
I tucked my arm under his as the cool wind blew against us. He squeezed it and we continued to stroll down the walkway.
We talked more about my list. August joked about my spending any more time with him. “At this rate, you’ll be done with your list by next week, then what will you do?”
I laughed it off like the joke that it was, but as I considered it, I wondered—what would happen when I was done with my list? Would I still carry it around? Keep doing the things on the list over and over again just to keep her alive? My chest ached at the idea of letting go.
“What’s wrong?” August picked up on my mood shift. I wondered what gave it away.
“Nothing, why?”
“You were leaning against my shoulder, and then you pulled away—like you're lost in thought.”
“Well, I thought better of it. Wouldn’t want to get too clingy.”
He opened his mouth to respond, but I cut him off. “I promise the random occurrences of showing up at your apartment will stop.”
“Don’t make promises I don’t want you to keep.” His words came fast, I almost missed what he said until he winked.
“Cute.”
“I try.”
His warm hand held mine all the way across the bridge. I winced at the butterflies in my stomach.
It’s just the cold.
It was my body working to stay warm, that was all. I didn’t do well in the cold. Warmer climate was definitely in my future.
“Hey.” He yanked my arm to get my attention. “You’re not regretting coming by last night, are you?”
“No.” August. The name was so painfully unspoken because I wanted so much for this to be real with him. “I like being with you.”
I liked it so much. And it hurt not to tell him. It hurt that he wasn’t telling me.
Yes—for some fucked-up reason that only Troy Hartman himself could be responsible for, August was lying to me. And for the life of me, I couldn’t bring myself to care or even be offended. He was clearly put up to it and in all honesty, I liked this August.
Maybe it was selfish and wrong on many levels, and maybe this little secret was going to tear us apart, but what if it didn’t? What if we were amazing just as us and lived happily ever after?
This isn’t The Little Mermaid, Harper, grow up.
My life didn’t have fairy tale written all over it. Not when I was younger and certainly not now. Our castle was a three-story walk-up in downtown Brooklyn. The Prince I crushed on in high school turned out to be a villain. And now I served coffee and drew cute boys behind their backs.
“We’re almost on the Manhattan side, think you can make it?” he asked.
I stopped abruptly. “I don’t think so. We’d better turn back.” I turned on my heel and he swirled me back around.
“You can do it. It’ll be fine. We’ll grab a bottle of water and then walk back.”
My eyes went wide, and he laughed. “Kidding.”
He reached into my pocket and pulled out the list. “What else are we doing today?”
I shrugged. “Well, we’re in the city. Did you want to go do whatever it was you needed to do here earlier?”
It was mean because I knew he had to go to work, but I couldn’t help myself.
He folded the list back up and slipped it into my coat pocket. “It’s not really a pit stop kind of thing. I’ve got a better idea.” He picked up a tourist brochure of lower Manhattan and opened it. With his eyes closed, he made circles around the map and stopped at a random spot before peering down on it. “Guess we’re going to South Street Sea Port.”
I hooked my arm under his. “Can we cab it there?”
After a fishy experience at the seaport, we went to lunch in Greenwich and then to a museum downtown. We ended our day in the city with a happy hour cocktail at an upscale spot by the pier, then took an Uber back to my car in Brooklyn.
“Thank you,” I finally said when we stood by my Honda, neither of us knowing quite how to say goodnight. "Today was pretty amazing."
He slid his hands beneath my coat and gripped my waist. “I had a great time with you, Harper.” The wind blew against us, and he shielded me with his body, pressing me against my car door.
His lips hovered over mine in question.
As if I'd say no.
The kiss was warm, soft and slow. My hands rested on his chest, thinking I could spend all night being here like this with him. I wondered when we were doing this again. If we were doing this again. If he'd come clean and be himself.
Or if I had to play along to their charade a little longer.