Page 60

Bryan
For the first time in years, I feel free. It’s an unfamiliar sensation; one I didn’t even realize I was missing until now.
The past few days have been good. Not just in the way things sometimes are when life settles into something tolerable, but in the way that Emma makes everything feel different.
Lighter. Brighter. Like I can breathe again.
I lean back in my office chair, the city skyline stretching beyond the glass, but my mind isn’t here. It’s drifting to the way Emma had laughed when she’d shoved ice cream in my face, the teasing glint in her eyes when she accused me of cheating at Uno, the way she had felt against me in the water, skin warm beneath my touch, eyes wide, lips parting.
I exhale sharply, raking a hand through my hair. I don’t know how I got to this point, but I don’t want it to end.
The phone in my hand lights up as I press the button, and I barely think before I type out a message.
Bryan:I want to remind a certain someone how I completely dominated that ice cream fight the other night.
Three dots appear. Then…
Emma:Dominated? Bryan, you were a sticky, mint-chocolate mess. I won that war, hands down.
I grin, tapping out my response.
Bryan:Debatable. Maybe we need a rematch.
Emma:You wish. Anyway, I have an actual life outside of embarrassing you.
Bryan:I’m not buying it. Where are you, sweet Miss Em?
Emma:If you must know, I’m at the fair. Stella dragged me out and then bailed on me. But I must admit, it’s kind of nice just walking around.
I pause, heart ticking up. The annual Ocean Bay fair.
The same one we went to when I was seventeen, where I tried to win her that massive stuffed bear and ended up with nothing but a bruised ego and a plastic keychain.
She’d teased me for weeks.
Bryan:You’re at the fair? Without me?
Emma:Some of us enjoy life, Mr. Workaholic.
I smirk. Knowing just how to make my day interesting. I push back from my desk, grab my phone, and head for the door. I think I’ll leave my car here so I can ride with Em however she is getting home.
By the time my Uber pulls into the lot, the fairground is alive with twinkling lights and laughter. The scent of kettle corn and fried dough waifs through the air, mingling with the distant echoes of carnival music and the hum of the Ferris wheel turning against the night sky.
I scan the crowd, searching. Then, I see her.
Emma stands by a ring toss booth, her head thrown back in laughter, the glow of carnival lights dancing in her eyes. She’s in a simple sundress, hair loose around her shoulders, and I swear the air shifts and pulls me right toward her. Like it always does.
I move toward her, slipping through the crowd, and just as she turns, I step behind her, close enough that she feels me.
“Look who I found,” I murmur near her ear.
Emma jumps, spinning around, eyes wide. “Bryan! You’re…”
“Here?” I smirk.
Her expression shifts from shock to amusement. “You seriously drove all the way here?”
I shrug. “Couldn’t have you having all the fun without me.”