Page 34

RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY

I woke, hoping the storm had passed. It had not.

Pulling my jacket tight, I stood on the porch, trying to fathom how any good would come out of this day.

Part of me wished Amanda hadn’t posted about the convention on social media.

Then the reporter wouldn’t have shown up.

At least then, I could blame myself for its failure. How could I berate a storm cloud?

“Stupid rain.” Nope, it didn’t have the same effect.

I checked my phone again to see if any more texts had come in.

Amanda had left a cryptic message about being queen of the universe, but that was nothing new.

I had hoped Simon had responded to Lucy’s text.

Lying in bed last night, I couldn’t help but laugh at the woman’s tenacity.

I also couldn’t ignore how much I beat myself up over something that could have been solved with an open and honest conversation.

Mom would be saying, “I told you so,” for weeks.

I threw my backpack, filled with dry clothes, over my shoulder.

At least if I was going to be at work, I’d be comfortable.

With a final deep breath, I darted off the porch.

I flung open the truck door and dove in, drenched despite the running.

Popping the clutch and pressing down on the gas, I pulled out of the driveway and headed toward my fate.

It hadn’t gotten much better than last night.

At least now, the downpour came in waves.

It’d let up just enough that I needed to turn down the windshield wipers and then speed them up again.

The first person who said, “We needed the rain,” would feel my wrath.

By now, the green would be closer to quicksand than grass.

We’d be better off getting cafeteria trays and turning it into a slip-and-slide.

“What is going on?”

A row of orange and white barrels blocked off the road.

The tiny lights on top flashed, arrowing, signaling to turn down a side road.

We hadn’t called the Department of Transportation for the convention, had we?

It might have been something Amanda undertook to help take the pressure off.

Though, I couldn’t figure out why they’d be forcing me to drive along the green instead of blocking it off.

“Something’s not right.”

I crawled along the street to the north side of the green.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw a couple walking with umbrellas.

They could have been anybody from Firefly except for the capes fluttering into the rain.

I expected to see some brave convention goers but to see a couple dressed up, I couldn’t help but smile.

“Maybe this won’t be so bad.”

The green was lined with cars, more than our best Saturday. It was as if the entire town had come out for the convention. For all the vehicles lining both sides of the street, I couldn’t find their drivers. There must have been hundreds of cars, but… I spotted a license plate.

“New Hampshire?” Then another, and more than a few from Massachusetts.

It was one thing for the locals to get rained out, but driving six hours to find out the event had been canceled?

I couldn’t imagine their disappointed faces.

Wait. I didn’t have to imagine them because there were none to be found.

“It’s aliens. It’s always aliens,” I muttered.

I was halfway down the green when a couple of teenagers darted across the road with their jackets pulled over their heads. I slammed the brakes. They had dashed out of Twice-Told Tales and ran toward the mill. I had my fingers crossed Amanda had opened the store early.

“No.”

I gasped.

Another gasp, this time with a shiver down my spine.

I popped the truck into park. It didn’t matter if I blocked the lane. As I watched the kids run across the green, they passed the gazebo. They might have taken refuge had it not already been occupied.

Simon.

The spandex hugged his body, showing off thick thighs and a broad chest. He stepped from his dry, safe perch, hands balled into fists as he rested them on his waist. I almost laughed as he sucked in his gut before holding the pose.

He stood still for a few seconds before switching to the next, this time trying to fling his cape out as it got drenched.

I shut off the truck and slid across the seat, shoving the passenger door open. “What are you doing?” I tried shouting, but the rain swallowed my words. I grabbed the keys and backpack. If he was going to stand out in the rain like a fool, it was only appropriate I join him.

Slamming the door shut, I ran across the green. He had just started leaping into the air, trying to imitate a flying superhero. I snatched his hand and dragged him under the gazebo. I wanted to ask what he was doing, but I couldn’t help but gawk at his outfit.

He struck another pose. As he thrust his hips forward, we both looked down. Even with the red underwear on the outside of his black bodysuit, his package couldn’t be ignored. I couldn’t tell if I wanted to tear the clothes off him or leave them on for a long session of foreplay.

“Simon, what the hell are you doing?”

“Who is this Simon you speak of? I am…” He looked at his chest before leaning toward me. “Psst. Who am I?”

“Arson.”

“Oh.” He resumed the pose. “I heard your day needed saving.”

“Arson’s a bad guy. Sort of. He’s?—”

“No interrupting my monologue.”

I snorted. I zipped my mouth and tossed the invisible key over my shoulder.

I thought his suffering through a superhero movie had been romantic.

He didn’t just raise the bar; he hurled it into space.

After this, no matter how bad the day got, I’d remember this, the sensation of my heart trying to break free of my ribcage.

“I’m here to save the—” He pulled the mask from his eyes, letting it hang around his neck. “That’s as far as I can go. I’m too exhausted from staying up all night.” I raised an eyebrow. What had he been up to?

“I have so many things I want to say. I’m sorry for not realizing how my relationship with Lucy would impact us. For not reaching out. I should have… I’m still learning how to be a dad. I forgot I need to learn how to be a boyfriend. Can you forgive me?”

“There’s nothing to forgive. I had big feelings I needed to work through.” Lucy had given me every assurance I needed. Who knows what this version of normal would look like, but I wanted to find out.

I reached for his face, wiping away the water on his cheek. Even though he stood in the pouring rain, clad only in spandex, my anxiety tightened my chest. He had done this for me, and still, I whispered the question. “Boyfriend?”

“Lucas said if Dad kisses a boy, he must be a boyfriend. Logic checks out.”

When somebody asked how we met, I’d tell them about this handsome man in my comic store. I’d include our trip to the quarry and how he taught me to cook. The story would always come to this moment when Simon stood in the rain with a cape.

“Then, I guess we should kiss.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck. Even without powers, I soared.

Holding the sides of my face, his lips pressed against mine.

His beard still held beads of water, and his wet suit pressed against my chest. I’d be okay getting drenched so long as he didn’t stop.

Whatever disaster came from today, Simon ensured it’d be a day I recalled with fondness.

“So now, why are you really dressed up?”

“I’m ready for the costume play.” He lifted his chin, face turning stoic.

“You mean cosplay.” I’m not sure if he understood the difference between the two. If he kept that outfit on, I’d show him. This is how people discover their fetishes. There’d be no going back from here.

“It’s time to call it. The convention is ruined.”

“Sounds like they need a hero.”

“What are you up to?”

Simon pulled the mask over his eyes. I wouldn’t let go of his neck as he pointed toward the comic shop.

I had been so distracted by my bearish boyfriend in skin-tight clothing that I didn’t notice the crowd inside Legends.

Further up the green, I spotted a dozen teenagers, each in a different costume.

There were no vendors on the green, not even the booth the market had set up to sell food. I turned back to Simon, an eyebrow raised. For the first time, Firefly had kept a secret.

“You’re not the only one I’m here to save.”