“It’s been so long since I’ve hailed a cab, I’ve forgotten how this works,” James said. “Do we pick one at random?”
Before Mika could answer, someone shouted, “Mika!”
Looking startled, Mika dropped James’s hand and whirled toward the sound of the voice.
James was almost as surprised. Well, that’s obviously someone who knows him. He pronounced Mika’s name right.
Off to the left, a car door slammed, and then a twentysomething, ridiculously fit guy jogged over to them. “Mika! I thought that was you. Dude, I’m sorry I’m so late.”
“George?” Mika’s mouth fell open. A second later, he shook himself and hugged the guy. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m picking you up, of course. Were you waiting for long? I mean, I know you obviously were, because I was supposed to be here at five, and it’s dark now, but I fell asleep, and then the baby woke me up, and I have no concept of time these days.” He seemed to notice James for the first time. “Who’s your friend?”
“Oh, right.” Mika gestured between them. “George Cho, meet James Thompson.”
James stuck out his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, George.”
George shook it, looking James over with curious brown eyes. “Same.” He let go of James’s hand and glanced back at Mika. “Sorry again that I’m so late.”
“Honestly, you’re not. Didn’t you get any of my texts? Our flight was delayed for hours. We just flew in.”
“Oh wow, I had no idea. My daughter decided my phone needed to go for a swim in the toilet yesterday, so I’ve been without. That’s another reason why I’m so late. I thought I had trouble being on time before, but now I’m useless.”
Mika chuckled. “Sorry to hear that. It’s funny, though. I was thinking earlier that one of these days one of us was going to be so late, we’d be on time. Lo and behold.” He reached for James’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Today was a fateful day for a lot of reasons.”
George glanced between them, his smile growing with each pass. “Can I offer your friend here a ride?”
“Um.” Mika paused. “Lemme ask.” He pulled James aside. “Sorry about this. I had no idea he’d be here. This complicates things.”
“What do you mean? Why not just let him give us a ride?”
“Because at some point, he’s probably going to have questions.”
“Oh. Good point.” James tapped his chin. “Yeah, if this whole thing seems strange to us, I can only imagine how it’ll sound to someone else.”
“Exactly. If you want, you can get a cab to my place, or go home after all. We can always hang out tomorrow.”
James faked an affronted expression. “What, and miss my chance to meet one of your friends? Perish the thought.”
“You’re going to make me regret this, aren’t you?”
“Absolutely.”
Chuckling, Mika turned back to George. “He’s coming home with me, actually. And on that note, we should get going.” Mika nodded at something behind George. A security guard was looking sourly at George’s parked car. “I don’t think we’re supposed to loiter here.”
“All right.” George led the way back to his car, talking to Mika over his shoulder. “I expected you to fly back with crappy souvenirs, not a handsome stranger. Mind if I ask your new friend here to tell me about himself?” His tone was dripping with suggestion.
Mika shot James a look that he could read as clearly as words: I told you he’d ask questions.
James shrugged before opening the back passenger door and sliding in, along with his luggage. Mika paused in front of the car as if he were debating if he wanted to sit up front or in back with James. However, at the sight of the enormous grin on George’s face, he climbed into the front seat.
George got in as well, and within a few seconds, they were pulling away from the airport and onto the highway. “We’ve got a bit of a drive ahead of us, so tell me everything. How’d you guys meet?”
“Mika and I were on the same flight,” James said. “We met when our plane was delayed.”
George glanced at Mika. “You met at the airport?”
“Yeah. We know it sounds strange, but—” Mika shrugged “—it was kinda like fate.”
“Sounds like that plane took your relationship to—” George paused, seemingly for dramatic effect “—new heights.” He imitated the sound of drum cymbals.
Mika groaned. “George, seriously, ever since you became a dad, your jokes have gotten worse and worse.”
That launched a round of bickering that would have put an old married couple to shame. James listened with delight and occasionally egged them on. As they drove into the city, Mika snaked an arm back and touched James’s knee. James took his hand and squeezed.
There was so much ground left for them to cover, James would be lying if he said it wasn’t a little daunting. He didn’t know if Mika lived in a house or an apartment, in the heart of the city or out in the suburbs. He didn’t know if Mika was messy or neat—though James was betting on messy—or a million other things that could only be learned with time.
So much could happen. They could wake up tomorrow and discover they were all wrong for each other. This could be a huge mistake, or the start of something that would last a lifetime.
And James couldn’t wait to find out.
Eighteen Months Later
“Man, this brings back memories.”
Mika glanced up from riffling through his bag and grinned at James. “Does it? We’re in a totally different part of the airport, babe.”
James smiled in return and stretched out his arms, as if he wanted to hug the crowds of people scurrying past them on their way out of MacArthur Airport. “Doesn’t matter. It still looks the same. Can we swing by the bar where we first got to know each other? Talk about a trip down memory lane.”
Mika’s hand closed around what he’d been searching for. He extracted a set of ferry tickets from his bag, stuffed them into his back pocket, and then took James’s hand. “It’s on the departures side of the airport, though. Why don’t we drop by when we leave on Sunday instead? We have a full day ahead of us.”
James pouted but nodded his acquiescence. “Yeah, you’re right. You ready to get going?”
“Yup.”
Hand in hand, they walked out of the airport and into the city. New York was in the midst of a beautiful, crisp autumn. The sky was pure blue, punctuated by skyscrapers that gleamed like polished silver in the sun.
All around them, the city buzzed with voices, sirens, car horns, and life. Mika breathed in deeply, smelling exhaust and hot food from the street vendors. He’d been here a dozen times on business trips, but this was his first time visiting for pleasure, and right now, he’d swear he’d never really seen it before.
“Where to first?” James spun around to face him without letting go of his hand. “You said we’re going sightseeing, right?”
“Yup. Neither of us had a chance to explore the last time we were here, so we’re starting with the Staten Island Ferry. After that, I have dinner reservations at this little riverside restaurant. We’ll be right on the Hudson. The views of the water are supposed to be incredible.”
“Ooh, so romantic,” James teased. “All this fuss, and our two-year anniversary isn’t for another six months. Careful, or you’ll spoil me.”
“You deserve to be spoiled, Mr. College Graduate. Six years of hard work, and all you get is a lousy, belated trip? If I were you, I’d demand a refund.”
“Never.” James pecked his cheek. “This is the best graduation present ever. Thank you.”
All these months later, Mika’s face still got hot when James kissed him. He cleared his throat. “You come up with your fair share of fun surprises. Remember our first anniversary?”
“Of course. I took you to that little bed and breakfast. I wanted to move in, it was so adorable. What was the name of that town again? Magic?”
“Mystic. Mystic, Connecticut, and you
’re right, it was beautiful. Not that we got to see much of it”—Mika leaned in closer—“considering we were in bed all weekend.”
James’s cheeks took on a distinct pink hue. “Fun as that was, let’s not do that this time. I’ll never forgive myself if I miss out on seeing the city again.”
“Don’t worry, I brought us here specifically so we can check that off your to-do list. And to celebrate, of course.” Mika tugged on James’s hand, and they started down the street together. Mika had booked them a suite in a hotel that was eight blocks from the airport. It was so lovely out, however, he almost wished it were farther. “This trip is long overdue. I wish we could have come here sooner.”
“Don’t be. Ever since your promotion, you’ve been so busy. I’m surprised they let you take time off at all. I’m very proud of you, by the way.”
“Right back atcha, babe. You’ve accomplished so much, and you’ve managed to keep me on my toes too. What happened to the guy who once told me he turned into an old man as soon as he got into a relationship?”
“What can I say? You bring it out in me.” James swung their hands like an excited kid as they walked. “You’ve changed too, though. For someone who’d never been in a long relationship before, you sure took to it readily enough.”
“What can I say?” Mika parroted. “You bring it out in me.”
Since almost the day they’d met, James and Mika had come together like puzzle pieces. Everything seemed to work when it came to them. They did their fair share of squabbling, and they’d both had to do a lot of growing up over the past year or so, but their momentum had never slowed. And it had always taken them forward. Together.
James suddenly stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. “Hey, love?”
Mika stopped too. “Hm?”
“I’m curious. Why’d you want to come back here? Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled to finally get to see the city, but I’d think you’d pick somewhere neither of us had been before.”
Mika smiled. “I figured it was a good way to end this chapter of our story, you know? We’ve been living together for six months now, and we’re about to buy a house. We adopted Sammy and Ruth together.”
“The most spoiled dogs in all of creation.”
“Exactly. Lots of big changes have happened in our lives since the last time we were here, and there are going to be so many more. Coming back here feels like returning to the scene of the crime, in a way. Once we pen in some final hurrahs, we’ll be ready to start a new chapter.”
“What a lovely way of putting it.” James slid his arms over Mika’s shoulders. “You’ve always had such a way with words. I love that about you. Maybe not so much when we’re fighting, but the rest of the time, for sure.”
“And I love the fact that even though you’ve chilled out, you’re still the responsible one. Without you, I’d never remember to do laundry or to eat a vegetable every day.”
“And I love you.”
It was amazing how much hearing those words—words they’d said a hundred times to each other over the past year—still made Mika’s heart race. “I love you too, James.”
James kissed him again, deeply, right there in the middle of the sidewalk, while people sailed around them.
Mika was breathless by the time he pulled back. “Wow. What was that for?”
“Just holding up my end of the bargain.” James grinned. “A long time ago I promised I was going to do more daring things.”
“No complaints here.”
Mika’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw a text from Yvelisse. He made sure to point the screen away from James as he read.
Good luck tonight, bro! So happy for you two. Lemme know the SECOND he gives you an answer.
Mika grinned and pocketed his phone. He appreciated the thought, but he was quite certain he wasn’t going to need any luck.
“Who was that?” James asked.
“My sister.”
“Is it important?”
“Yeah, but don’t worry about it. It can wait.” For a little bit longer.
“Remind me to text Melissa later. Little sisters. Am I right?” James shielded his eyes from the sun and looked down the block. “Speaking of important, you want me to hold on to the ferry tickets?”
“Nah. I’ve got them.”
Mika patted his back pocket, where he’d stowed the tickets and something else. Something that’d been burning a hole in his pocket all day. A simple black ring box.
“All right,” James said, oblivious. “And hey, even if they do get lost, that’ll just be the first memory we make on this trip.”
“Good attitude.” Mika took James’s hand again and tugged him down the street. “But don’t worry about making memories. I get the feeling this trip is going to be the most unforgettable of your life.”
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Quinn Anderson is an alumna of the University of Dublin in Ireland and has a master’s degree in psychology. She wrote her dissertation on sexuality in popular literature and continues to explore evolving themes in erotica in her professional life.
A nerd extraordinaire, she was raised on an unhealthy diet of video games, anime, pop culture, and comics from infancy. Her girlfriend swears her sense of humor is just one big Buffy reference. She stays true to her nerd roots in writing and in life, and frequently draws inspiration from her many fandoms, which include Yuri on Ice, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Buffy, and more. Growing up, while most of her friends were fighting evil by moonlight, Anderson was kamehameha-ing her way through all the shounen anime she could get her hands on. You will often find her interacting with fellow fans online and offline via conventions and Tumblr, and she is happy to talk about anything from nerd life to writing tips. She has attended conventions on three separate continents and now considers herself a career geek. She advises anyone who attends pop culture events in the UK to watch out for Weeping Angels, as they are everywhere. If you’re at an event, and you see a 6’2” redhead wandering around with a vague look on her face, that’s probably her.
Her favorite authors include J.K. Rowling, Gail Carson Levine, Libba Bray, and Tamora Pierce. When she’s not writing, she enjoys traveling, cooking, spending too much time on the internet, playing fetch with her cat, screwing the rules, watching Markiplier play games she’s too scared to play herself, and catching ’em all.
Connect with Quinn:
Facebook: facebook.com/AuthorQuinnAnderson
Twitter: @QuinnAndersonXO
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Email: [email protected]
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