Page 86 of The Escape Plan

His smirk gets impossibly smirkier. “I asked what time you’re meeting Keeley tonight, but you were too busy daydreaming about her to hear me.”

This makes me laugh. “Busted,” I admit readily. “And… seven.”

He grins as we walk out of Fenway Park. “Well, then, let’s hustle to get you home to your woman. And me to mine, of course.”

As we walk onto the street, I look up to see no less than three magpies sitting together atop a lamppost.

Three for a girl.

And there’s one girl Ireallywant to see right now.

A girl who’s changed my life in so many ways.

I turn away from the magpies with a smile and give Cash my salute. “Lead the way.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Beckett

“Okay. You all set, Becks?”Ezra is in the control room, looking at me through the glass as he leans forward to press a button to talk to me. Behind him, on the back wall, there’s a spray painted “Lucky 13” logo, and beside him stands Keeley. Her hair is long and loose, thrown over one shoulder, and her eyes gleam with anticipation as she watches me.

I’m currently sitting in the live room, perched on a high-backed stool. A large condenser mic is set up in front of me, and my guitar—which I’ve just finished tuning—is in my lap.

The sound check is done, and it’s go time.

“Ready,” I tell Ezra, but my eyes are on Keeley.

Though she heard the initial tune I strung together in The Serendipity’s library a while back, she hasn’t heard the song since.

Every moment that I haven’t spent with Keeley or teaching lessons this past week, I’ve been holed up in Mr. Prenchenko’s apartment, working on this track. First perfecting the melody, then putting words to it.

Words that echo everything going on inside me.

“Okay, and we’re recording in three, two, one…” Ezra flashes me a thumbs-up.

I nod, then strum my guitar with the opening chords of the song. As I begin to sing, nerves claw at my throat and I find myself a little terrified to play in front of her… yet, somehow, also so ready.

Because this is the final piece of the album I wrote before Gran died.

This is what was desperately missing for so long.

And so, I close my eyes and try to forget who’s watching, forget where I am, as I sing my song and let myself be raw and vulnerable and in the moment.

No more refusing to feel, because falling for Keeley requires—no,demands—to be felt in full. Sometimes the feeling is so strong, so overwhelming, that it seems like it could swallow me whole and drown me at any moment… but I’m not reaching for any life preserver. Not scrambling to get to the surface like I usually would.

Instead, I’m diving in headfirst. Fearless.

And it’s all for her. Allbecauseof her.

When life led me to you, the stars aligned,

A twist of fate that redefined,

In a single moment, my world was changed,

Love found me where I least expected,

I’m rearranged…

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