Page 31 of Kismet

A little after ten o’clock, my phone dings with a text and I’m surprised to see it’s from Stone.

Stone: Hey.

Well, how prolific.

Me: Hey. What’s up?

Stone: I know I’ve been weird lately, and I’m sorry for that. I’m trying to make sense of everything, and in turn, I’m icing you out, and that’s not fair to you.

Me: No worries, man. I get it. No need to explain yourself to me.

Stone: Are you doing anything tonight?

Me: I’m not. Are you?

Stone: Well, I hope so. I’m outside your house.

Shit.He’s outside my house… right fucking now? I lose the ability to breathe. I didn’t expect to see him tonight, but fuck, how I really fucking want to.

Me: Give me five minutes and I’ll be down.

******

We wind up at the same field again. The drive over was silent, but not awkward, like I was worried it would be. This time, when we park, he turns off the ignition and climbs out. Not knowing what’s really going on, I follow suit, unbuckling my seatbelt and getting out.

“So, tonight’s the night you kill me then, huh?” My voice is dripping with sarcasm, but at least it brings a smile to his solemn face.

“You’re so dramatic. Here, take these.” He has the back trunk area pulled open. He hands me some pillows and a couple of blankets. There’s also a cooler that he brings out before shutting the trunk and locking the car.

He instructs me to lay the blanket on the grass, while he opens the cooler, grabbing out two of what looks to be beer, and popping the caps off. I situate the pillows at the top of the blanket, and we take a seat. He hands me the bottle of what I now can tell is an IPA, before taking a swig of his own. The moonlight is bright enough that it illuminates his features, and I can see his Adam’s apple dip as he swallows.

“What is this place?” Last time, I didn’t allow myself to ask any questions, but I’m not doing that this time. I want to know. I need to know.

“It belongs to my family. We’re all from Spokane, but when I got into WSU, my folks wanted to be close by. They bought this property, but never had a chance to move into it. It belongs to me and my sister now. You can’t tell in the dark, but there’s a house at the end of this field.”

“Do you live here?”

“No. Neither Molly nor I live here. We can’t bring ourselves to, but it is my favorite place to go when I need to get away from it all and be alone. Look up.”

My head falls back on my shoulders as I take in the sky above me. “Wow,” is all I manage to get out. The sky isfilledwith stars, the moon full and shining bright. I’ve never seen the sky look like this before.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Hell yes. How have I never seen the sky like this before?”

“The city lights make it impossible for the stars to be visible. Out here, away from the city, you get an unobstructed view. I love it.”

Bringing the beer bottle to my lips, I take a long pull, turning my gaze toward Stone. “Do you come out here often, err… with your wife?” I’m thankful for the darkness. Stone can’t see how my cheeks heat with my question.

He gives me a crooked grin before taking a swig of his beer. “You’re, uh, actually the first person I’ve ever taken here.”

Thatanswer surprises me. “What? Why?”

“I don’t know. It’s my favorite place to go, and it’s special to me. I never wanted to taint it by bringing anyone.”

I try hard—I really do—to not let myself melt into a puddle by that statement. I fail, of course. I fully fucking melt… because he has never brought anyone else here. Not even his wife. But he brought me.

“Thank you for trusting me with this.” My voice is quiet, and had we been anywhere but in the middle of nowhere, he probably wouldn’t have heard me. My throat is clogged with emotion and my skin is buzzing. I don’t know what to say or what to do, so I down the rest of my beer, setting the empty bottle in the grass beside the blanket.

---