Page 75 of Untouchable

“Excuse me. Does this item work?” I ask the old man behind the counter. He adjusts his glasses and looks into the case.

“Oh, yes. Very well, actually. You’re welcome to take it out and try it if you’d like.”

“Yes, please.” He pulls the camera out and Katarina’s hands move to take it, but I grab it first, pointing it in her direction.

“Smile,Mi Luz.” She doesn’t argue with me, she simply gives me a sassy eye roll before smiling so beautifully. I hope this cameradoeswork so I can hold onto her smile forever. I click the button, the flash goes off, and the picture shoots out of the front. I grab it and begin to shake the print, watching it develop perfectly.

“I’ll take it,” I tell the man. He smiles and nods, bringing a brand new pack of film to the counter with it.

“You don’t have to do this, Ace,” she whispers as the gentleman gets everything put into an old bag.

“I want you to have it.” She says nothing but she’s looking at me with gratitude in her eyes.

“This was with it when we collected it from an estate sale. I hope you two make wonderful memories together and capture every single one.”

Katarina smiles at him. “Thank you, I’m sure we will.” Then her eyes meet mine and I smile at her, handing her the new—old—camera.

“I don’t know how much film is in there, so I want you to photograph only themostimportant memories with this camera. Understand?” I ask and she nods her head, putting the lens up to her eye.

“I understand.” Then she snaps a photo of me and I give her a warning look.

“You have no idea how important you are to me, Ace. Thank you for the camera.” I nod and look next door at a little hole in the wall diner, and suggest we eat there before heading out again. Once we finish, Katarina runs to the bathroom and I take a minute to check my phone, seeing an update from Bodine on the trial.

Bodine

Things are starting to look like they’re going our way, brother. You and Kat may be headed home sooner than you think. Call me when you guys stop again and I’ll fill you in.

Me

Will do. Heading into Wyoming tonight. I’ll call you when we get there.

“Ready to roll.” Katarina exits the restaurant, looking like every single dream I’ve never allowed myself to have.

“Then let’s roll, Reaper.” I hand her her helmet and we get back on our highway to nowhere. Only nowhere now has a destination and I can’t wait to get there. Maybe I’ll tell her about the things my father always said a man should experience in life, and how I’ve now gotten to do both—hit a highway to nowhere, and fall in love—and maybe if I’m lucky, she’ll feel the same.

With her arms wrapped tight around my waist and a full tank of gas, we won’t stop again until we’re a few miles away from Cloud Peak. I’ve made sure to book our places to stay near attractions I think Katarina would enjoy.

It’s even nicer than the photos looked online, thank God, and Katarina’s smile is all I need to know I made the right call.

“You could be a freaking travel agent at this point, Hernández. This place is amazing.”

“I don’t like the general public enough to be a travel agent, but I’m happy to book all of our reservations for the foreseeable future if you’d like.” She bites on her lip to hold back her smile, and as much as I hate when she does that, she looks too damn cute to stay mad about it.

“I’d love that.” She throws her arms around my neck and kisses me. I’m tempted to tell her right now how crazy I am about her, but I want to wait for the perfect moment.

“Why don’t you go get freshened up? We’ll go explore a little bit before dinner.” She squeals and takes off for the house. I follow behind her, grabbing our bags from the bike and punching in the code the owner sent over about an hour ago to give us access to the house.

Bzz. Bzz. Bzz.

I pull my phone from my pocket, seeing that Bodine either had satellite to know that we’ve arrived or impeccable timing.

“Go on in and get ready, I’ll just be a sec,” I tell her, showing her the screen with Bodine’s name on it.

“Ok. Tell him I said hey.” She smiles, then disappears inside. I swipe to answer and pull my cuts off to throw them on my handlebar.

“Are you stalking me or something? Wejustparked at the house.”

His voice is low as he talks, making me frown because Bodine isneverquiet. “Listen, man, we’re at Tabitha’s so she can grab her things, so I started looking around, trying to pick up on anything she might have missed, and you’re not going to believe what I found.”

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