“Do you want to know how the big sit-down went or are you going to keep massaging that bunk bed?”
Elijah opened his eyes and punched Chase’s shoulder. “You don’t think I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t already know it ended on a positive note?”
“I dunno how your mind works.” Chase dodged before he could get punched again, and smiled. “Although it seems like the precog bits in that brain of yours are a little more active than usual.”
“They are.” Elijah bent to crawl into the lower bunk. He grabbed Chase’s pant leg and tugged until Chase joined him in the narrow twin bed. “Maybe it’s . . . our connection to each other? Kind of like how your telekinesis works more when it comes to me?”
“Or maybe it’s just because you’ve been in hella life-or-death situations instead of just drumming on a stage or shaking your ass behind a bar,” Chase suggested.
Elijah turned onto his side, scrunching up his face. They were so close their lips were practically brushing. “You’re such a jerk. Continuously ruining good moments after teasing me with your declarations and sweetness.”
Chase snorted. “That’s how you know shit is gonna be okay. I’m back to normal. Can you deal?”
“Uh, yeah, pretty sure. Considering I fell for your normal long before you told me you loved me.” Elijah gave him an arch look, then kissed him. “Now tell me everything.”
“I threatened to broadcast all my memories to the Community if they try to play games. Of course they weren’t thrilled with it, but they went along with the plan to split the board seven ways with everyone having an equal say in decisions.”
Elijah nodded slowly. “And did you . . . make it clear that we want to be left out of it? Forever?”
“Fuck yes, I did. Well . . .” Chase lifted his hand to make a seesaw motion. “I also said we’d be in contact with Holden and Lia.”
“We will. It’s not like we’re disappearing from the face of the earth. We’re just going to California.”
“Right.” Chase studied Elijah’s face, the soft smile and glimmer in those rich brown eyes. How at ease he looked even after the last several hours, days, weeks, fuck—months, of horror. “So, the thing is . . .”
Elijah raised a brow. “There’s a thing?”
“Yeah. The thing is, my psychic bits have been all jacked up since I started making shit crumble. I need you to tell me this is all gonna be okay.”
“This what? As in the Community, or us? Because . . .” Elijah’s gaze flickered, his lips pursing. “I can’t see far enough to know the details about the Comm or how that will all play out.”
“All right, well, fuck—what do you see?”
Elijah grabbed his hands and squeezed. “Try to look for yourself.”
Chase hesitated, not wanting to struggle and fail when all he wanted was reassurance, but Elijah’s nod was enough of a nudge. He closed his eyes and opened a channel between them, sliding into Elijah’s mind far more easily than he’d expected. He was immediately awash in Elijah’s fondness, and Chase found himself drawing the physical part of Elijah closer even as he wandered the landscape of his mind.
Once they were wrapped up in each other, the visions hit Chase.
“What do you think?” Elijah asked, standing outside of a small bungalow. It was painted gray and the yard was overrun with grass and trees. “Too small?”
“Fuck small. It’s too expensive.” Chase kicked open the small metal gate. “Uh, it also looks abandoned.”
“Yeah, that’s why it’s so cheap. Pretty sure the owner, like, died here.”
Chase snorted. “Right up our fucking alley.”
Elijah grabbed his hand, snickering, and dragged him to the door. “Shut up. I was just joking.”
Chase leaned against the counter at a tattoo shop, his white-blond hair grown out to his collar as he held open a wide book. On the other side of the counter stood Nate and Trent.
“Would you judge me if I got a tribal tattoo?” Nate asked.
Trent smirked. “No, but I might have to break up with you.”
Nate kicked him, and Chase laughed.
Elijah stood on the edge of a chair, hanging white circular lights around a bar in a kitchen. The chair teetered, and Chase rushed in to steady him.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“Making the place pretty. It’s been over a year, and—”
“And it won’t hurt to be unpretty a little longer? If you’re trying to make the place look fancy for Holden and Six, don’t bother. They don’t give a shit.” Chase smacked his ass. “Be careful or I’ll beat you.”
“They won’t care, but your mom is coming over with your brothers, and I can’t have her knowing we’ve still failed to decorate.” Elijah finished hanging the lights and hopped down. “I’m done, so now you can spank me for real.”
Their entire ragtag group loitered in the lobby of Nate’s new tarot reading shop and eavesdropped on his sessions. Six loudly pointing out the lack of logic behind card readings, and Holden laughing so hard his eyes teared.
Elijah discussing buying the property next door, and having them all invest in a psychic-themed bar. The West Coast version of Evo.
Chase and Elijah were lying on the beach at dusk, holding each other and watching the sun set. Chase looked at Elijah, tracing the details of his profile before kissing the corner of his jaw.
“I love you.”
Chase opened his eyes to the sound of Elijah murmuring “I love you too” in his ear.
“Was—” Chase dug his fingers into Elijah, almost too terrified to hope but too hopeful not to ask. “Was that real? All of it?”
“All of it,” Elijah whispered. “Isn’t it . . . almost scary? Like, what if we saw how happy we could be and something happens to fuck it—”
Chase silenced him by pressing their lips together. He wrung every ounce of positivity and optimism from the hard casing of all his protective armor, and poured it into the kiss. A kiss that left his heart throbbing and his body tingling with hope he’d never dared have before. In a lifetime of nightmares, Elijah had always been his light. And now, it seemed that would be the case . . . forever.
“Don’t doubt it,” Chase said hoarsely, once they’d parted. “Just believe.”
Elijah released a shaky sigh. “That it’s true?”
Chase nodded. “And that we’ll be okay. All of us.”
They looked at each other a heartbeat longer, wrapped in each other’s arms, and smiled.
They would be okay.
Explore more of The Community series: riptidepublishing.com/titles/series/community
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There are so many people to thank for supporting me while I wrote this book and, honestly, the entire series. I’m always afraid of leaving someone out, so I’ll say this—I thank everyone who beta’d, who supported me when I had doubts, who pushed me when I was blocked, and who held my hand while I was penning this novel.
I wrote Sightlines during a time of great duress in this country and in my personal life, and it wasn’t easy. It was only the friends I’ve made in Romancelandia who helped get me through it, and who reassured me that I could keep writing despite everything else that was going on.
Lastly, I’d also like to thank my readers for going on this ride with me (special shout-out to my patrons: Leslie, Candie, Robyn, Jules, Flore, Jeanine, Kristie, Stacey, Matthew, Pixie, Shirlene, Christina, LaCresha, Mirjana, and Sandy!). I hope this was a satisfying conclusion to this trilogy (no further plans to write more so far, but I always explore characters further in shorts on Patreon or in discussions in Get Hasselled—my Facebook group!), and that watching our band of unlikely heroes defeat their Big Bad gave a little bit of hope that one day we can all do the same.
After Midnight
Stygian
The Five Boroughs series
Sutphin Boulevard
Sunset Park
First and First
Interborough
Concourse
Citywide (coming soon)
The Community Series
Insight
Oversight
The Barons
Illegal Contact
Down by Contact
Cyberlove series, with Megan Erickson
Strong Signal
Fast Connection
Hard Wired
Mature Content
Santino Hassell was raised by a conservative family but grew up to be a smart-mouthed, school-cutting grunge kid, a transient twentysomething, and eventually transformed into a grumpy introvert and unlikely romance author with an affinity for baseball caps. His novels are heavily influenced by the gritty, urban landscape of New York City, and his desire to write relationships fueled by intensity and passion.
He’s been a finalist in both the Bisexual Book Awards and the EPIC Awards, and was nominated for a prestigious RITA award in 2017. His work has been featured in BuzzFeed, Huffington Post, Washington Post, RT magazine, and Cosmopolitan magazine.
You can find him at santinohassell.com, in his reader group on Facebook—Get Hasselled, on Patreon, and on Twitter as @santinohassell.
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Rogue Magic
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