Page 58 of Size Queen
We cruise down the coast, not looking at potential places to eat or things to do but instead taking in the gorgeous sunset and the wonders it’s doing to the Florida sky.
“Do you think we could just chill and watch the sunset on the beach?” I ask him, hopeful.
He drives the Yamaha off the highway and parks right by the sand. We take off our boots and walk hand in hand toward the ocean.
“I can’t even remember the last time I came to the beach,” I say absentmindedly. “Oh, I can’t wait to take Jamison here for his first time.”
“There are so many new things we get to show him,” says Damon. “It’s crazy how we’ll be teaching someone the way of… well, life.”
“He’s in trouble,” I say with a laugh. “If I’m the one teaching him what to do in life, he’ll probably need a second and third teacher. At least he’ll have the internet he can consult with.”
We lie back in the sand, not caring what the sand and water might do to our clothes. The sky turns orange and purple, the softening sunlight casting an assortment of colors across the water’s surface, and it feels perfect.
I look to my fiancé, grabbing his hand and kissing it many times. I notice him looking around the beach, as if half expecting someone unwelcome to show up.
“Are you okay?” I ask him.
“I’m great,” he says with a grin. “I’m more than great. I’m thrilled.”
I go back to watching the water, but I can feel him looking around still. I’m unable to relax, my mind wandering.
“You sure you’re okay? You looking for someone?”
“Nah, just people-watching,” he replies.
Something makes me suspect that he’s actually on the lookout for any potential enemies. I don’t want to bring up anything related to our enemies—the day is too perfect to ruin with talk about work.
Yet, he won’t stop looking around.
“Did Tom Wright get released from prison or something?” I ask, half-joking.
“No,” he scoffs. “I’m sorry, I just…”
He stops, pulling me closer and turning his full attention on me and the sunset. I feel like he’s avoiding something.
“I can’t fully enjoy the sunset unless I know what’s bothering you,” I say. “And hey, you have to tell me what’s going on now. I’m going to be your wife.”
“I’m just thinking about everything,” he says. “Now that Jamison is here and is a real, tangible thing that I can hold and see… I’m not sure about living here in Miami.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well—I’m not worried, first of all,” he begins. “There is no threat… right now. Right now, it seems like the Rolling Heads are kind of the shit right now. We’re on top.”
“But someone will eventually come along to try and remove you from the top,” I surmise.
“I’m always on top,” he says with a wink. “I’m not afraid of something happening; I’m afraid of what I don’t know. When it’s quiet like this… I don’t know. It makes me feel oddly uneasy.”
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m wondering if maybe the Rolling Heads should expand,” says Damon. “I’ve been thinking about Orlando. It’s a bit cheaper to live there than it is here. We could live in a housewaybigger than the one now and pay about the same for it.”
“Orlando?” I say, taken aback. “Expand?”
“I’m thinking of maybe giving Kace a promotion,” he says. “We could open up another bike shop in Orlando—or any kind of shop, really—and we could start a new legion in a new part of the state. I don’t have any enemies in Orlando, and I have a lot of friends.”
“I know people in Orlando,” I muse. “Sabrina is actually pretty tight with a plus-size modeling agency that operates in downtown Orlando…”
He grins, giving me a knowing look. “What about it, huh? Does that sound like something that might appeal to you?”