Page 104 of A Hard Fit

“I don’t normally eat these.” Jackson sniffed. “But since they’re free…”

“You’re welcome,” Finn said. “How about some slushies, too?” He handed Amy a handful of coupons and passed their hot dogs around, then crouched down to talk to Minnie. “Did you have fun on the carousel?” he asked her.

“Yes!” the little girl cried. “My pony was pink!”

“No way! Pink ponies are the best.” He smiled at her and Amy. “The gentleman coming up the line behind me has the condiments.”

“Attention, Thrill Island guests.” A voice cut in over the PA system. “We arethrilledto tell you that the park Wi-Fi is back up and running again as normal. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience. Your heist may now proceed as planned.”

Finn sighed in relief.They did it.“Sounds like Rory came to the rescue. I’d better go find them. I hope you three enjoy the rest of your day.”

“Thanks, Finn!” Amy and Minnie waved while Jackson nodded, mouth full of hot dog.

Prick. Finn took his tray back inside, thanked Nadya and her staff then leaned against the counter to send Rory a text.

You did it!

Looks like it!they replied right away.Just finishing up a few things here. Want to come meet me?

Rory sent directions for how to get to the server room.

When Finn walked in, his heart swelled. Rory was sitting at a console pointing at a few columns of numbers and explaining something while heads bobbed around them.

“Thanks, Rory. I can’t believe we missed that,” said a bespeckled man in flannel. “So embarrassing.”

“Not at all,” Rory said. “It was my fault. I have my internal pre-launch checklist to make sure all systems are out of test mode, but I should have shared it with you when Markos nixed the soft open.” Rory looked up and caught Finn’s eye.

The rest of the room fell away. He walked toward Rory, desperate to have them in his arms. Rory stood and met him halfway.

It was like a jolt of electricity when his fingertips connected with Rory’s shoulders. He pulled them in tight for a hug, nose in their hair. Rory sank into him with a sigh of contentment.

Rory let Finn squeeze them for longer than a standard hug, then chuckled and pulled away far enough to look up at Finn. “How did things go at the grill? Did you appease the mob?”

“I think so,” Finn said. Rory’s lips begged to be kissed. It took all his restraint to not take one of them between his. “They put out their torches, anyway.”

“Finn, Rory!” Markos burst into the room. “Christ, what a fucking relief! That almost gave me a heart attack!”

“Glad we could sort it out,” Rory said in their typical modest fashion.

“I can’t thank you enough. I guess a soft open would have caught that, hey? I’ll listen to you next time.” Markos let out a booming laugh. “And, Finn! Nadya says you left behind a whole lot of happy customers. The two of you saved the day.”

Finn shrugged a shoulder. “Feeding people is never a bad idea.”

“We were happy to help,” Rory said.

“Thrill Island will be sticking with Breakpoint as long as I’m around, that’s for sure. And you two are welcome here free of charge, anytime.” Markos shook their hands and they left with promises to follow up next week.

Stepping back out into the sun, Rory texted Steffie to see where their crew was at. It turned out they had just ordered their food, so Rory and Finn headed back to the grill to meet them, balloons bobbing all around them in the crowd. They side-stepped a pack of kids surging off the Thrilloscope, laughing and smoothing their wind-blown hair. The park seethed with joy—smiles, souvenirs and laughter, topped with the scent of sunscreen and popcorn.

Just as they arrived at the grill, Jackson, Amy and Minnie were on their way out.

“Rory! I hear you saved the day!” Jackson said. He shook his head. “I still think you’re wasted at an advertising—”

Amy interrupted. “Finn really saved the day, too! I think people in line were about ready to start eating each other.”

Rory half-smiled, lip between their teeth. “Before you go, can we talk, Jackson?”

“Ooh, sorry. We’ve really got to get going. This one’s about done,” he said, hoisting Minnie up, “and we have to get back to the babysitter. Fiona’s getting fussy.”

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