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“Coming right up.”

I walk over to his table and sit down, scooting my seat forward just as he places two beers onto the table between us. A couple of napkins and a large bowl of salad, too.

“Thank you,” I tell him.

“Of course,” he says, and with that, we dig in, a comfortable silence washing over us. Nothing but covert glances and small, addictive smiles are exchanged between us as I continue to eat and take in the space around us.

The view through his windows is breathtaking. Greenery stretches as far as I can see at one end of his house, but on the other, the city of full of lights shines and twinkles in the distance below.

It gives his house all the color it needs, and the aesthetic of his home makes even more sense now. Definitely intentional. A piece of art in its own right.

“I have so many questions,” he says, chuckling softly as his words slice through my thoughts, “that I don’t know where to begin.”

“Oh?” I swallow, fully accepting that this is the moment we’re finally going to dive in and dig through our past. But instead of the expected nerves, or the upheaval of my heart, I feel an easy calm wash through me. I’m ready.“What would you like to know?” I ask.

“How were you discovered? Your art, I mean,” he starts simple.

I take a sip of my beer and set it back down onto the table. “My first year at WSU, actually. I was working part-time at a restaurant that was starting on a remodel, and one thing led to another, and my paintings ended up on their walls. A gallery owner asked about them a few weeks later, and…the rest is kind of history.” I shrug.

And I tell myself I don’t believe in luck.

Holding onto the belief that something will happen, manifesting it into fruition? Sure. But luck? That, I’m not so sure about. I don’t want to believe that everything hangs in the balance ofchancesandmaybes.

But sitting here now, next to Greyson, looking into his familiar green eyes…

Maybe it was a stroke of pure, insane luck that the right person saw my paintings at the right time and liked them enough to ask about them.

Maybe it was a lifetime’s worth of luck paid forward that Greyson walked into my favorite coffee shop a few short weeks ago, and that somehow, I’ve ended up here tonight.

I don’t know.

But I still wouldn’t like to think this is all a matter of simple luck. I’d rather believe there’s something larger at work here. A deep, soul-path kind of thing, where his and mine were always meant to realign and no amount of luck or chances could’ve ever veered that fate off course.

“Wow. That’s amazing,” his response cuts through my thoughts, and my line of vision refocuses on his eyes again. “But you deserve it. I can see why so many people are drawn to your work.”

“Thank you,” I say. I can feel myself blushing, heat spreading through my cheeks. “Right back at you, by the way...I always knew you’d make it.”

He smiles, and it warms my insides.

“You still owe me an autograph to the face, though,” I add, attempting to slice through the increasing number of butterflies filling my stomach, but he laughs—unrestrained, warming me even further, and then my heart starts beating faster, too. I can’t take my eyes off of his—the warmth in them being directed right back at me. It makes it a little hard to breathe.

I swallow thickly. I need to find a breath of fresh air—out his back doors and into his backyard, maybe. Or I could climb over this table and into his arms and steal some of his breaths for my own.

He clears his throat, somehow aware of the direction of my thoughts. If the heat in his eyes has anything to say about it, anyway. “Would you like a tour?” he asks.

“Sure.” I nod, collecting myself with a not so subtle breath. “I’d love one.”

“Great.” He stands, and I follow suit, letting him lead me out of the room with his fingers wrapped around mine.

Sixty-two After

“HOW LONG HAVEyou lived here?” I ask Greyson.

“About a year now,” he answers, glancing back at me as he leads me into his living room, hand still wrapped around mine.

A year?My eyes widen in surprise.

“I was on tour most of that time,” he adds. “We’re just finishing up now, with a few shows in-state over the next couple of weeks.”