Page 71 of You Can't Fight Lightning
“What?”
“If you want. But I don’t have to.” I wanted to get this out. “If you would prefer to stay human, I’ll be with you for as long as you’ll have me. To the end, if that’s what you want.”
It was bright and hard to see, but I caught the shimmer of unshed tears in her eyes. “You’d do that for me?”
“Whatever you want.”
“I love you.” Her whisper was hard to hear above all the cheering, but it reached my ears.
“I love you, too.” I kissed her then.
And while I’d kissed her just moments before, it was different. The entire world opened up in a way I’d never expected, the possibilities endless. Maybe I couldn’t be alone, like Hera had accused me of, but at least now, if I was with someone, it was for the right reasons. For both of us.
“Forever.” I smiled.
“Forever.” She kissed me again, her eyes open and shining.
Nyx
Watching the pair kiss, Nyx sighed and took a twenty-dollar bill from her sleek leather backpack, handing it to Hera. “You were right.”
“Of course I was. I’ve been with him a long time. I know him. He needed a push. I was beginning to wonder if he was ever going to leave that damned club.” Hera took the twenty and folded it carefully, daintily sliding it into the front pocket of her pink jeans. Her legs stretched out a little, the glitter on her pink toenails catching the light.
Men on either side of her leaned in for a closer look.
Nyx resisted the urge to tell them not to bother. Hera was happy in a way she hadn’t been for millennia. “I thought for sure he’d go the other way just to spite you.”
“He did.” Hera’s laughter rose up into the air, bright and sparkling. “That’s when you find what it is you need, what you didn’t know you needed, and often, even if you’re a big idiot.” She gazed out at Z and Roxy. “She’s far better than he deserves, of course, but I want him to be happy. And the best way for that to happen is to not tell him.”
They laughed together then. She was right, Nyx thought. Z was so cranky and contrary that he’d do the exact opposite of what he was told to do. Just to prove he could.
Hera stood. “I think we’re done here, don’t you?”
Nyx nodded. She slung her backpack over one shoulder, and together, she and Hera walked away from the ball field. She couldn’t help give one last glance to Z and Roxy.
Happily ever after, indeed. So it was possible.
Hera waved, heading for her SUV that had a distinct pink sheen to the metallic white paint.
Nyx watched her. Who would have thought this was where the gods would end up? Given what she’d just seen, anything was possible.
There was a genuine smile on her face as the air shimmered around her and she disappeared.
Roxy
The game was over. We’d won, as usual. I didn’t know what it was about Pete, or the bar, but Pete managed, every year, to put together a team that seemingly had no chance of winning, and then his team won it all.
Z thought it was Pete’s ambrosia blend.
Z.
I didn’t know what I wanted to do about the offer he’d made me. What was wonderful was that I had time to decide, and time to be with my love. I wasn’t ever going to lose him. No matter what, he’d be with me. No matter what I chose, this lifetime or all of them.
He wouldn’t leave me. He wouldn’t break my heart and leave me alone.
My heart was safe with him.
After so much emotion, neither of us spoke much. The celebration of our team’s win would go all night, but without even having to talk, I knew that Z wanted to be alone with me. It took us a while, but we made it to the parking lot.
