Manhattan

by Steiner, Kandi

  I chuckled. “Maybe a little.”

  “Like, that fake nacho cheese they put on tortilla chips at the football stadium concession stand? Or, like the amazing cheeseball your dad makes for Christmas every year?”

  “Maybe like the squeeze-out-of-a-can cheese your mom puts on Ritz crackers,” I said. “You know, like it seems weird, but actually tastes pretty delicious.”

  His smile bloomed, and my heart did a flip.

  “Kylie?”

  “Yes?”

  “Come to New York with me.”

  My smile fell, along with my stomach and my jaw. I gripped the flowers in my hands tighter, as if they would somehow assure me that I hadn’t just heard what I thought I had.

  Mikey took a step toward me, reaching out to peel the flowers from my hands and set them on a lounge chair beside us. Then, he grabbed both of my hands in his, locking his gaze on mine.

  “This summer, you were on a mission to remind me why I love this town. And it worked. I do love Stratford,” he said. “But what you might not have realized was that in the middle of all our adventures, you lifted a veil I never knew was hiding the truth I’d known all along.” He paused, smoothing his thumbs over my wrists. “It’s you I love most about this town.” He smiled. “About this life.”

  My hands trembled in his, and he held them tighter, stepping even closer, until I felt the heat of his breath on my lips.

  “I know there are no words that could ever make up for the mistake I made last weekend. And that’s what it was — a mistake. When Bailey called me…” He frowned, brows bending together as his eyes searched mine. “I can’t explain it, but it was like my brain went haywire, like nothing I said or did after that voicemail showed up on my phone made any sense and I knew it… but was powerless to stop it. It wasn’t until I actually saw her, until I actually looked the ghost that had haunted me for months in the face that I was able to snap out of the spell.”

  My chest threatened to split open, but for some reason, the way he held me in that moment held every part of me together, too. It was something about the sincerity in his eyes, about the way he touched me — like it was natural and pure and inevitable.

  “I can’t go back and undo what I did, just like I can’t go back in time and realize that I loved my best friend long before I even knew what love was. I can’t go back and be the first guy to kiss you,” he said, one brow quirking. “Although, I hope I at least hold the title for best kiss.”

  I laughed, the tension wrapping my chest in a vise lock shaking loose with the movement.

  “I can’t go back and take you to prom, or drive you out to make-out creek and do dirty things to you.”

  I scrunched my nose at that, and he chuckled.

  “But you know what?” he added after a moment, his eyes searching mine. “I wouldn’t — even if I could. Because somehow, some way, all those moments we missed,” he said, looking up at the photos hanging around us. “All these moments we had — they somehow led me right here, to you. To us.”

  My heart squeezed in my chest, and his squeezed my hands as if he knew.

  “I can’t go back,” he said again. “But, I can go forward. And I want to go forward — to a new place, a new life, a new future with you.”

  I blew out a breath, one that felt a little like smoke as it burned its way out of my lungs. “To New York?”

  He grinned. “To New York.”

  I shook my head, biting my lip as I considered it. “We don’t know anyone there,” I pointed out. “Neither of us have a job, or a place to live, or a clue in hell of what it’s like living in a big city.”

  “Well, technically, I have a job,” he corrected. “Which we can talk about later. But yes, you’re right. It’s big and scary and new and nothing like Stratford. But… I can’t imagine going without you. And I thought, with it being your gap year, and how we found out that your mom spent some time in the city, too…”

  “I could follow in her footsteps,” I whispered.

  He nodded.

  “And we’d be together.”

  Mikey’s smile widened. “We’d be together. Making more memories. At least, if you’ll have me. If you’ll forgive me for being the dumb oaf that I can sometimes be.”

  “Sometimes?”

  “Hey, now…” he warned, but his arms were already opening, and I was already sliding into them, letting him hold me to him as I rested my head on his chest. Warmth and comfort washed over me like a gentle waterfall, and I sighed, leaning into the boy I knew I could never truly walk away from.

  “You really hurt me,” I whispered, but my fingers curled in his tuxedo jacket, holding him close. “I’ve never felt like this before in my life.”

  “I know,” he whispered, kissing my hair. “I’ve been an absolute wreck, too. But I promise, I will make it up to you. I’ll show you what you mean to me, what you’ve always meant to me.” He pulled back, looking down at me. “If you’ll let me.”

  I smiled, narrowing my eyes a bit. “Hmm… I don’t know. What’s in it for me? I mean, I have this whole road trip planned now, and you just want me to abandon it and move to New York with you?”

  “Wait,” he said, searching my eyes. “You did it? You planned your trip?”

  I chewed my lip, nodding.

  “Well, then,” he said, a smile spreading on his face. “New plan: take your road trip. And take me with you.”

  I laughed. “That’s presumptuous.”

  “Don’t act like you don’t want me there,” he teased. “Or like you don’t need someone to drive, since you fall asleep at the wheel on any trip that’s longer than two hours.”

  I grimaced. “You’ve got me there. But… what about my gap year? And what about school?”

  “I don’t want you to give up any of that,” he said. “That’s not what I’m asking. Travel, study, research the schools in the city and if you hate them all, then go somewhere not in New York and I’ll follow wherever you go.”

  My brows bent together. “Really? You’d follow me?”

  “Are you kidding?” He chuckled, brushing my hair behind my ear before his thumb smoothed over my jaw. “Anywhere.”

  I leaned into the touch, heart racing, mind spinning as I considered his offer. “This is insane, you know.”

  “Oh, trust me,” he said on a smirk. “I know.” His eyes flicked back and forth between mine, his hand still holding my face as he watched me. “But you know what? We’re young. And I think we’re allowed to be a little crazy.” A pause. A smile. “Spend your gap year with me,” he whispered. “And then, maybe spend forever with me, too.”

  Something between a laugh and a sob broke free from my throat, and as tears pooled in my eyes, I nodded — over and over, again and again, a whisper of yes on my lips and in my heart as Mikey pulled me into him. His lips pressed against my hair, my forehead, each cheek and up and down my neck as I giggled. Then, he pressed those lips to mine, and we melted into that kiss like it was our first and last breath all at once.

  “How the hell are we going to pull this off?” I asked, breaking the kiss as I framed his face in mine and shook him like he was a maniac — which in that moment, I knew he was. “We’re moving across the country,” I pointed out. “To, like… the biggest city in the nation.”

  “I know.”

  “We’re eighteen,” I reminded him, panic rising in my chest. “We don’t have degrees or anything.”

  “I know.”

  “We’ve been in the same town our entire lives.”

  He chuckled, peeling my hands off his face and kissing each one before he wrapped me in his arms again. “I know. But you know what I also know?”

  I shook my head.

  “We’re going to be okay. No… more than that. We’re going to be amazing. Because it’s a new adventure. And it’s us. And if there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that there is no more winning combination than that right there.”

  “You’re so sure,” I said, still shaking. “How?�
��

  Mikey shrugged, as if the answer was obvious. “Like I said — because it’s us.” Then, he lowered his forehead to mine, inhaling a deep breath. “You’re my girl, Kylie,” he whispered. “You always have been. And as long as that’s still true, I know everything will be okay.”

  My heart swelled, threatening to pop out of my rib cage and float up to the lights that hung above us. I wrapped my arms around his neck, stepped onto my tiptoes, and pressed my lips to his, knowing that what he said was the truth.

  It was us.

  And as long as we had each other, we had it all.

  “I love you,” he whispered against my lips, and through the tears in my eyes, I whispered that I loved him, too.

  Everything else disappeared in that moment, with his lips on mine, his arms around my waist, mine hanging onto his neck. What happened with Bailey was in the past, along with every other bump in the road that had led us to this moment. All that mattered now was that he was mine, and I was his, and that list of epic adventures that I thought had ended had only just begun.

  “So,” I said, pulling back, my eyes finding his. “Manhattan?”

  He grinned. “Manhattan.”

  I shook my head, but every part of me screamed yes as I grabbed that boy’s hand in mine.

  Then, with a smile and a kiss, a new adventure was born.

  And two small-town kids were big city bound.

  THE END

  Michael

  One month later, Kylie and I sat on the floor of a tiny, studio apartment in Manhattan.

  Our tiny, studio apartment.

  We’d managed to find a shoe box of our own in Greenwich, and it was — no exaggeration — only slightly larger than my old bedroom had been. It was dorm style, the kitchen small, bathroom even smaller, living area just big enough to cram our family into and the bed situated in a loft above the little kitchen. Every piece of space in that apartment was utilized for some sort of appliance or storage, and it felt a little like something out of a storybook, a room with too much and yet nothing at all.

  But it was ours.

  A buffet of traditional New York food favorites made up a picnic on the only piece of furniture we had in the ten-by-ten space designated as the “living room” so far — a coffee table, given to us by her dad since it had been in storage for years. We figured we’d be lucky to fit a love seat in behind it and mount a TV on the wall, especially since Kylie was avid that we make room for a bookshelf.

  For now, it was just food and plastic plates littering that table, and our entire family sitting on the floor around it with us.

  Our first dinner in our new place.

  Mallory peeled back the first slice of greasy, New York-style pizza, plopping it on her paper plate with a satisfied smile. “Oh, yeah. I could totally get down with eating like this every night.”

  Logan grimaced, handing her a napkin immediately as he eyed the spread of food. “Why did we not get anything that requires a fork or spoon to eat?”

  “Because that’s the way it is here,” Noah said, unwrapping one of the foil-covered hot dogs we’d grabbed from the street car downstairs. “Everyone’s on the go. No time for silverware, little bro.”

  “I like it,” Mr. Nelson chimed in, grabbing a churro with his bare hands. “And before any of you say a word, life’s too short to not eat dessert first.”

  Kylie smiled, reaching over to grab a churro of her own, and everyone else worked on filling their paper plates with the street food of their liking.

  Everyone, that was, except for Mom.

  She was still looking around our small space, notebook in hand, writing down things we’d need as she thought of them.

  “I still think we should go to the market after dinner,” she said, adding three more items to the list.

  Trash can.

  Dish soap.

  Laundry detergent.

  “Just to get the essentials,” she said.

  “We’re going to go tomorrow,” I told her. “I promise.”

  “But, what if you need something tonight? You don’t have bottled water or toilet paper or anything.”

  Kylie held up her napkin, one out of the giant stack we’d snatched from the falafel truck. “We have these.”

  Mom’s bottom lip quivered, and she looked back at the notebook in her hands like it was a puppy she was about to have to give up for adoption.

  I chuckled, fixing her a plate and setting it on the table in front of her before I took the notebook. “Thank you for making this list, Mom. It’s really helpful. And I promise, you can help us shop tomorrow.”

  “Really?” She sniffed.

  I nodded. “Of course. We can’t do this on our own.”

  That seemed to appease her, and she ruffled my hair before taking a deep breath and moving in on her plate.

  Kylie reached over and swept her hand into mine, giving it a gentle squeeze. We shared a knowing glance, because although we both wanted to do it on our own, we knew it’d break our family’s hearts to not be there for all of it. Hell, even Ruby Grace had flown up, meeting us in New York as soon as her contract with AmeriCorps was done.

  We’d all stayed in a hotel last night, moving in what little we had today. It all fit in the back of Kylie’s truck that we’d driven up, mostly because we knew the size of the apartment wouldn’t allow much more. And Kylie’s dad would drive that truck back to Stratford, our need for a car gone.

  A buzz of excitement filled that small space as everyone ate and chatted, and I looked at my favorite girl, at the place we’d now call home. It was just a few short blocks from my new job at the art gallery, and less than half a mile from NYU — which, if my gut was right about my girl, would be her university of choice after her gap year was up.

  We’d spent the last few weeks cramming as much as possible into the time we had. We secured the apartment just three days after we made up — thanks in large part to our parents co-signing for us — and then we packed as quickly as we could, stored what we wanted but couldn’t bring with us in Mom’s garage, donated what was left over, and then hit the road for a three-week road trip that ended right here in Manhattan.

  Every morning and every night, my life had been wrapped up in Kylie.

  We’d taken that road trip just like we did any adventure — with a plan and a promise to break it. We camped and hiked, ate more food than either of us thought possible, stopped at spontaneous concerts in every city we could, took our pictures with all the cheesy, touristy pit stops on the side of the road, made a few mistakes along the way and a whole lot of love, too.

  And through it all, I was in the driver seat, and she was right there beside me, her hand in mine.

  As we’d made our way into the city, crawling with the rest of the traffic on the bridge as the Manhattan skyline stretched out before us, she’d looked at me and said, “This is it. This is where our life begins.”

  When I’d first made the decision to move to New York, I’d imagined it, what it would feel like once I finally got here. I imagined a small apartment just like the one we were in, and boxes just like the ones all around us, and the exciting promise of a fresh start, just like the one building in my chest now.

  But I had imagined it alone.

  And being with Kylie made it a thousand times better.

  “So, when do you start at the new gig, little bro?” Jordan asked around a mouthful of grilled cheese.

  “Wednesday,” I answered. “So, we have a few days to get settled.”

  “And what about you, missy?” Ruby Grace asked Kylie.

  “Well, I’m going to start researching schools, and I’d like to check out New York Cares,” she said. “See how I can get involved in the community.”

  “That’s my girl,” her dad said with a proud grin.

  “That being said, I’ll be on the job hunt Monday. One salary alone isn’t going to pay rent on this shoe box.”

  Everyone chuckled, but I didn’t miss the worried expression on Mom’s face as
she unwrapped her hot dog.

  “We have a pretty good savings to get us by for a while, though,” I said to the room, but namely, to ease Mom’s anxiety. “Anyway, what I really need to know is how much time I have to save for a flight back to Tennessee for my big brother’s wedding.”

  We all eyed Noah, and he smiled at his bride-to-be, resting his hand on her thigh under the coffee table. “You want to do the honors?”

  She blushed, and though she answered us, she never took her eyes off him. “November twenty-sixth,” she said. “The Saturday after Thanksgiving.”

  “November,” Mom echoed. “That’s so soon!”

  And it was. We were already more than halfway through August.

  “We know,” Noah said, grabbing her hand in his. “But, we want something small, intimate. Neither of us wants to stress out about the planning. It’ll be casual.”

  Mom dropped her hot dog back on her plate without taking a bite, blinking several times with her mouth ajar. “Casual.”

  “I’ll still wear a tux, Mama,” Noah assured her. “I promise.”

  That seemed to appease her a bit, and she picked up her hot dog again, but before she could take a bite, Logan cleared his throat.

  “Uh… before you do that, we have some news,” he said, glancing at Mallory. “And I think it might be best to not have any possible choking hazards around.”

  “Oh, my God. If you proposed and Betty isn’t here to gawk at the ring, we’re all in for it,” Kylie joked. The table chuckled in agreement, but Logan didn’t join in, and Mallory looked as pale as a ghost.

  “Did you?” Mom asked, her eyes bouncing back and forth between the two of them. They looked half lit up with excitement, and half panicked — and I had a feeling it was because Mallory’s last name belonged to the family ours had been at war with for decades.

  “Not exactly…” Logan answered.

  We all waited, eyeing each other with equally as confused looks. I shot a glare at my oldest brother, the one I was sure Logan would tell a secret to first, but he just shrugged.

  “I’m pregnant.”

  The words flew from Mallory’s mouth, her eyes on Logan’s before she turned to the rest of us and smiled hesitantly. “Surprise?”