Page 115 of The Love Interest
“You’ve done enough,” says a deep voice. It’s Robert. His hands are in his pockets. “Give me the key, I can take it from here. The four of you can go and I’ll free the others.”
“Great plan,” I say. “But I can’t trust you—you seem too keen.” I pick the boy standing beside Robert, a boy with curly red hair and the beginnings of a beard. He’s clearly a Nice. “Will you go with him, just to make sure he doesn’t try anything?”
He nods. Dyl hands him the key card.
“Then go!”
They spin and run to the elevator. The rest of the Love Interests are sprinting toward the massive open door. Juliet is in my arms, Natalie is to my left, and Dyl is to my right.
“Ready?” I ask.
We run.
We pass through the open door into the cool night air. The sky is navy and the air feels charged. We reach our car. Natalie climbs in first, then, gently, I lay Juliet down on the backseat so that her head rests on Natalie’s lap. Dyl gets into the driver’s seat. Once I’m sure Juliet is safe, I climb in and sit on the passenger seat.
As I buckle my seat belt Dyl turns to me. “Caden, do you want to go for a drive?”
I picture him back on the roof, sitting beside me, looking into my eyes, asking me the same question. Back then, the prospect of driving with him was exciting. A tiny taste of freedom, of rebellion. I look through the windshield and the world is so large and so vast. I can go anywhere. Now we’re really driving, now we’re actually free.
It’s not exciting.
It’s exhilarating.
“Don’t make this a big thing, Dyl. Just drive.”
He plants his foot on the accelerator and the world blurs away.
EPILOGUE
ONE YEAR LATER
I roll over, tilting my head to focus on the soft sunlight that’s streaming in through my bedroom window. I can see my garden. It’s small, and admittedly not much to look at, but it’s really important to me. The simple and repetitive task of maintaining it clears my head when things get bad, which used to be quite often. Those episodes feel distant now, though. How long’s it been since I last had to use it? I don’t know exactly, but my garden is practically all weeds now. I take that as a good sign, and I smile.
I could spend my day trying to fix it, because I’m not going to my lectures, and I gave a bullshit excuse to get out of my library shift tonight. This year’s excuse was the funeral of my grandma, which is officially the last time I can use that one. But that’s a problem for future Caden, not me.
I look over my shoulder. Dyl is on his back, shirtless, his arm stretching out beneath my pillow. He’s got the day off too; he got out of his internship at the hospital. He’s wearing black boxers, I know he is, but his lower half is covered by a white sheet, so it’s easy to imagine him completely naked. If I wanted to, that is.
His chest rises, filling with air, then falls. His biceps are slimmer than before and his stomach is soft, extending out from his pecs a little bit. Like I did, he lost his abs pretty quickly after we freed everyone from the LIC. It doesn’t matter; he’s still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I think about the moment on the plane, when I saw him looking so different, and how him not beinghimhurt me.
Now I wouldn’t change anything about him. I lean forward and place a soft kiss on his damp forehead, my lips pressing down the dark strands of soft hair. Then I spin around and grab the jeans that lie in a pile on the floor beside the bed. I shuffle my butt forward and pull them over my calves. The bed rustles. Lips press gently against the middle of my bare back, along with the bristle of Dyl’s early-morning stubble. It tickles, so I grin.
He kisses me again, this time at the base of my neck. The soft, slightly wet touches move along my shoulder.
“Are you aware of the time?” he asks quietly. He nibbles my shoulder.
“Acutely.”
“Then you’re lucky you’re cute.”
I stand up and jump into my jeans. Once the belt is buckled, I spin around.
He’s rubbing his eyes. “I can’t believe it’s been a year. One freaking incredible year. Come back to bed, Caden. I want you…” He taps his chest. “Right here.”
I fight the urge to lie down beside him and rest my head on his chest. He’d be warm and he’d stroke my hair and…Focus, man!I’ve been thinking about this morning for weeks and I don’t want to ruin it now. “Actually, I was thinking we could watch the sunrise? If you do I promise we can do whatever you’d like for the rest of the day.”
He laughs. “WhateverI’d like? Wow, someone’s feeling brave this morning! What if I told you I want to spend all morning listing all the reasons Nicki is actually the worst rapper ever?”
I pick up a pillow and hit him over the head with it. “Take that back!”
