Page 99 of Chasing Infinity

Her attack weapons immediately lower as she accepts my offering and takes a sip. “Ah, bless you.”

I chuckle to myself and shift my truck into drive, pulling away from the front of her house. Parks settles into her seat, sipping her coffee happily and humming along to the music on the radio. She perks up a little bit as we drive, even though our journey is short.

“You’re taking me to Main Street?” Addison asks me incredulously, but I keep my eyes on the road, eventually pulling into one of the parking lots right across the street from her parents’ café. I put my truck into park and reach behind me into the rear seat for the blanket and extra thermos of coffee I brought.

We get out of my truck and I tilt my head towards the giant clock tower that watches over Main Street, giving her a grin. “Ready?”

“I’m not sure. What are you up to?”

I offer her my hand, and she takes it without much argument. Her willingness me great satisfaction, almost as much as the feeling of her dainty hand in mine. It’s a cold morning, and I pull her closer to me, so she’s not freezing. With her glued to my side, I lead her toward the clock tower. I eventually have to let go of her to dig in my pocket for the spare key to the courthouse I swiped from my dad’s office.

With the weight of the silver key in my hand, my thoughts return back to the ledger, and my stomach churns, thinking about it. Somehow, I manage to squash that train of thought as fast as I can, telling myself I’ll worry about it later. I get to spend the first few hours of my birthday with Parks. I don’t want it tainted with thoughts of whatever shady business my father is up to.

I wrestle the door open and then lead Parks in. We head up the old stairs into the maintenance room for the clock tower.

“Noah,whereare you taking me? You’re not going to murder me, are you?”

I laugh, my voice echoing off the walls. “Not this time, Parks. Sorry to disappoint you, but you’re gonna be stuck with me for a while longer.”

Grabbing her hand, I lead her up the stairs towards the attic door. After I wiggle the door open, I slide in, Parks following right after me. Her eyes widen when she realizes where we are. Parks steps away from me and towards the window, looking over the Main Street square.

“I didn’t realize we could come up here,” she says, awe lacing her tone.

“Most people can’t, but that’s one of the few perks about being the mayor’s son, I guess. I swiped the key,” I tell her with a wink. She gives me a disapproving look but wanders over towards the window anyway.

“Here, get comfortable,” I instruct as I lay out one of the blankets I brought. She’s still tightly clutching the mug of coffee in two hands but settles on the blanket as soon as I have it spread across the dusty floor. I pull another blanket out of my backpack and wrap it around her shoulders.

She looks up at me gratefully as I settle beside her and doesn’t complain when I snuggle in under the blanket.

“Why are we up here?” she asks.

“Just wait a few more minutes, and you’ll see,” I say.

Only a moment or two later, the sky starts to light up. Parks gasps as her eyes take in the colorful display of bright oranges, yellows, and pinks. “It’s beautiful.”

The bright rays of the sun dance across her face as she stares wondrously out the window. The light brings the golden flares to life in her hazel eyes. My mouth goes dry as I watch her, realizing I never stood a chance. Not against her. I start spiraling into consuming thoughts of how I can never seem to get enough of her. Every minute I spend with Addison Parks makes me want more. I want so many more mornings like this, watching the sunrise with her. I want to fill her days with things that make her look as amazed as she does now. My chest aches at the thought of everything we could do together, all the adventures and incredible moments I could spend with her. I want all of that, and more. And hopefully someday we’ll have it.

“It’s amazing how something that I can cover with my thumb gives life to everything in the world,” she muses, breaking me out of my daydreams of her. She’s holding her thumb out and closing one eye, covering up the sun. “It’s kind of crazy, isn’t it?”

“What is?”

“To think that there is an entire universe out there, infinite space, and we’re just here living our lives like we’re the most important things in existence.”

“Well, to some people, you probably are the most important thing in existence, Parks.”

She looks at me then, andfinally, I see it all click into place for her. “Are you one of those people?”

“Yeah,” I tell her simply. “Yeah, you’re important to me, Parks. Probably more than anyone else in my life.”

“Even more than Jordan and Caleb?”

I smirk, “Especiallymore than Jordan and Caleb.”

She looks away from me, a content smile covering her lips as she watches the sun rise. After another few seconds, I feel her finger start tracing a pattern on my palm. I glance away from the display in the morning sky to look down at what she’s doing. She does it again and then once more.

“Infinity,” I whisper, interpreting her drawing. Addison’s eyes find mine, and she grins cheekily.

“Infinity,” she says back and then looks out at the sun. It’s almost past the horizon line, only a sliver of it still covered behind the hills. I lean towards her, resting my cheek against the side of her head. Her familiar lavender and vanilla scent fills my nose, and I close my eyes, breathing her in. She smells like comfort, likehome.

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