Page 72 of Work with Me

“Is that one?” He pointed overhead at a dark shape against the thin, pink clouds.

“That’s a hawk. The bats are tiny. They brought some into my school once. They fit in a kid’s palm.”

“Ah.” He stared out over the water toward the bridge.

I knew we had a few minutes, so I let my gaze wander across the trail. A pair of bikers whizzed by, then a woman pushing a jogging stroller. It was a popular spot for bikers and runners. In fact, I’d have been surprised if Jackson hadn’t jogged down here himself. His apartment complex was close to an access point to the trail. Rick had told me he often ran here, and sometimes he biked to work along the trail.

As if the thought had conjured him, a familiar rangy form emerged from the trees. I gasped. “Rick!”

He did a double-take and stopped, panting. “Alicia.” Then he tensed. “Jay.” He had a greenish spot on his jaw, which he rubbed against his shoulder.

Jackson spun away from the water and stepped in front of me. “Rick.” He seemed to expand until I couldn’t even see my ex. I peered around Jackson’s arm.

“Nice night for a jog.” Rick used his forearm to wipe sweat from his brow.

“I guess so.” Jackson’s voice was hard like I’d never heard it. His ever-present sense of humor had fled.

“Hey, Alicia, how’s—”

“Shouldn’t you move along? Don’t want those muscles to lock up. You might trip and fall.” Jackson crossed his arms.

Rick ripped his gaze from me to Jackson. “Right. See you.” He sprinted away.

I laid a palm on Jackson’s rock-hard biceps. “What was that all about?”

He relaxed, but his eyebrows almost met in the middle. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Rick hadn’t stuck around long enough to say anything obnoxious. Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen him in a while, not even at the end-of-season pizza party for Noah’s team. I’d dreaded his making a surprise appearance. Had Jackson had something to do with it?

When I looked up to ask him about it, I saw a speck swoop across the sky. “They’ve started.”

He whirled away from the trail and gazed across the water, sparkling in silver and rose-gold from the setting sun. The sun kissed the horizon, sending up its final citrus-colored salvo. Above us, the sky had gone a pale blue.

From beneath the bridge, millions of tiny creatures streamed into the sunset sky. They swooped into an S shape, then spread out, then looped back toward the bridge, spreading into a stippled cloud. One moment, they were a flock of birds, wheeling together, and the next, they diffused into the sky, searching out their insect meals.

As one group of them fluttered overhead, their clicks and cheeps drowned out the traffic on the streets nearby. Jackson held up his phone to capture it. I stood still, trying to discern patterns in their flight.

At last, they dispersed, though the occasional bat flapped overhead in search of its dinner.

“That was amazing.” Jackson still stared into the sky. A star or planet winked bright in the darkening blue.

“It was, even for a jaded local like me.”

He tore his gaze from the sky. “Thanks for bringing me on my tacky-tourist quest.”

I smiled, though he probably couldn’t see it in the dark. “That’s what friends do.”

He stepped closer. “Aren’t we more than friends?”

“Not until the project’s over.” I crossed my arms.

Jackson rested his hands on my shoulders and slowly rubbed them up and down my biceps, warming my chilled arms. “Not long now.”

“One more week.”

“And then?” His thumb brushed over the top of my breast, and even through my jacket and my shirt, his touch sent an electric current straight down between my legs. My sex clenched. Without thinking about it, I shuffled closer so that our sneakers bracketed each other. Our knees and hips bumped together, and I leaned my chest against his, chasing the sensation.

“I guess it depends,” I murmured.

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