Page 279 of Burn Bright
“I can’t promise I won’t sink to the bottom of the pool.”
“Icanpromise I won’t let you sink.”
Her scowl morphs into a teeny-tiny smile. “And how will you be a bad student?”
“I might have a panic attack behind the wheel,” I admit.
Her face softens. “We’ll start in a parking lot, Friend.” She lets go of my waist and backs up, just to extend a hand. “You have a deal.”
My smile edges higher, and I shake on it. Not letting go of her hand, I interlace our fingers, then bring her closer to the window. I snatch my worn blue ballcap off the couch. I’m about to fit it on her head, but she points at mine.
We agreed to share my hat, but she likes when I wear it more. So I put it on backward. Her pursed lips try to spread into another smile. I engrain every single one of her smiles in my mind. Even if they’re fleeting, I still see them.
I want to kiss her, but the view turns her head. Snow flurries catch the morning wind, and the weather forecast says it’s going to dump about five inches today.
While we gaze out at the winter city landscape, her hand stays in mine. Lights and garland decorate the balconies of several buildings. Wreaths and red bows hang on the street lampposts. Clouds cast a haze over the city, but it’s so far from dreary as snow kisses windows and railings and fire escapes.
“One of the prettiest views in all of New York,” Harriet says quietly.
I look down at her. “Yeah, it is,” I whisper. I could say I’ve fallen in love with New York, but I’ve fallen more in love with the people in this city.
Sometimes life isn’t about where you go but who’s going with you, and where I want to be at the end of the world is beside her.
“You were right,” I tell her.
Her gaze lifts to mine. “About what?”
“This isn’t how we end. You are my entire world, Harriet Fisher. The future I want has always had you in it. For as far as I can see, you are always there. You’re always with me.”
Her chest collapses in a deep, audible breath. “Don’t make me cry in front of your brothers.”
I laugh, my eyes burning with my love for her. “If they tease you for crying, I will be on their fucking case.” I hold her cheek.
Her eyes do well, but after a few breaths, the waterworks recede, and she pops up on her toes to kiss me. Not getting close enough. So I pick her up at the waist, and her legs naturally wrap around me.
“Thanks for the boost, Friend,” she murmurs, her eyes on my lips.
Mine on hers. “No need to thank me. This is where I like you,Friend.”
Her lips curve before she kisses me first. I smile against it, my fingers scrunched into her messy hair.
“Ben Pirrip, stop sucking face!” Tom shouts, pulling our attention to the kitchen. “You’re going to have to choose, dude. We can’t pick.”
I set Harriet on her feet. We join them in front of the barstools. Charlie has spun around to face us, and Beckett is behind the island, telling me, “You’ll need to decide, Pip.”
“They’re never going to agree,” Charlie adds.
It’s a weird statement. Tom and Eliot are almost always on the same side, and I try not to obsess over being the one to cause friction. They both remind me there will be no hard feelings in whoever I choose. They just can’t make this choice themselves. They’re both unrelenting. Unwavering. Steadfast to the bone.
Great, this is going to have to be completely on me. I tip my head and smile at a thought. “Anyone have a quarter?”
“You want them to flip for it?” Beckett asks, then exchanges a shocked glance with Charlie.
“Yeah,” I nod as Harriet retrieves a quarter from her messenger bag. She tosses it to Tom.
“Leaving this to chance, little brother?” Eliot asks while half-seated on a stool.
“To fate, yeah.”
