Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 73817 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73817 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
“So how does it feel now?”
I don’t follow. “How does what feel?”
“This place. Your ‘paradise’ you were looking for after leaving San Antonio. Is it better than a few days ago?”
This boy really remembers everything. I glance at the arcade, thinking of Cooper. Our morning. Last night. All of our laughter. The racing of my heart. Thinking of it all, a smile softly touches my lips. “I think it’s … a lot closer to paradise now.”
“I’m glad to hear it, Seany. Phew, I’ve gotta go now. There’s a ton of Pride things going on all week, including a thing here at the arcade, street food vendors, an art show … all down Cassanova Street, every night this week.”
“Pride things?”
“Yeah! The Hopewell Fair does stuff on the weekends, but the weekdays also have a lot going on. Is that not your thing? Vann has a booth at the north end of Cassanova Street. I hope we get visitors. It’ll be fun! You can hang out at our booth for a while if you want. Check out some of the other cool things happening. Stuff yourself with tasty street food. Oh, oops, now I’m really late. Gotta go.”
I watch Toby make his hurried way down the road and around the corner on foot. Still emotionally bewildered, I barely notice Cooper coming out of the arcade a second later. He comes up to me with a smile. “You alright?”
The forgiveness Toby just showed me has me feeling dazed. “I think I just made a new friend.”
“Oh? Who’s that?”
“A chipper, overly forgiving guy named Toby.”
“Ah, yes. Moved here recently with his boyfriend from Spruce. Always at the arcade. Seems like a nice guy.”
“He wants me to hang out with him tomorrow night.”
Coop’s face changes. “Hmm. At the bonfire? Haven’t been to one of those in ages.”
Bonfire? “Not sure. He was talking about street food and art and Pride stuff.”
“Oh, that. There’s stuff going on all around town, yeah. I forgot about all the street fair stuff on Cassanova.”
“You said there’s a bonfire also?”
He shrugs that off. “They’re lame. Same boring crowd hanging around a fire complaining about tourists.”
It sounds kinda fun, too. But I just chuckle and give a careless shrug. “Yeah. It sounds … super lame.”
He studies me for a second. “You want to walk around the street fair tomorrow night? Meet up with your friend?”
“I …” Am I being tested? Is this a test or something? Suddenly everything feels weird. “Nah. They’re … He’s … not really my friend or anything. I only just met him.”
“You sure?”
I give one last glance at the corner where Toby hurried off, then nod. “Yeah, I’m sure. Let’s get outta here.”
When evening rolls around, I’m with Coop at the Easy Breezy. He doesn’t mention the street fair or bonfire again, and neither do I. Any weirdness I felt before is forgotten as I step in to bus tables, walk the floor, and greet customers. To my surprise, I’m totally at ease like I’ve been working this job for years. I bet even the guests just assume I’m one of the locals, doing my usual weekend gig.
Maybe it’s another skill I’ve picked up along the way.
Just slipping right in wherever I am.
Even the cold-shouldered girl named Mars warms up to me—but only after giving me an ultimate shakedown: “If you hurt Coop, I hurt you, that’s it, that’s the only rule. Got it?” I give a nervous nod, and then she becomes instant smiles. “You and I are gonna be best friends, Seany.”
As the evening goes on, I feel the weekend drawing to a close. Some people have gone home already, needing to be back before work on Monday. Others linger around here and there, sucking up every last second of their vacation in Dreamwood. There are several more who plan to stay the week here for all the extra Pride festivities.
It’s a really special, warm feeling, to know I don’t have to leave come the final hour of the day when the island at last begins to settle, like the smoke after a fireworks show.
Cooper and I take off, leaving the closing shift up to his trusty bartender Chase. The pair of us sit on the bottom step of the Easy Breezy, gazing out at the nearly emptied beach and the lingering light in the sky.
I’m squeezed next to Cooper, like he’s the only thing in the world that keeps me warm. I turn to him. “What’re you thinking about?”
His eyes are full of dreams as he gazes off. “Nothing.”
“Hey, don’t hold back now. Aren’t we supposed to be telling each other everything?”
He snorts, then glances at me. “Alright. You want the truth? I was just thinking about the corniest thing in the world. My little fleeting dream.”
I lift an eyebrow. “Fleeting dream …?”
He points off toward the Quicksilver Strand. “See the boardwalk? I sit out here sometimes when the bar’s slow, and there are always couples walking by on it. Older men who’ve been together forever … or sweet young lovers holding hands, stars in their eyes …”