Drawn To Dark

by Emma Tharp

“Eek. I can’t believe we actually did it,” Penny says as we land in Seattle.

  “Me either. They’re going to be so surprised.” We did it. Penny and I bought plane tickets to visit Kingston and Davies and see their show tonight. Since I couldn’t get a weekday off, we chose to fly out early Saturday morning and leave on the last flight out, a red eye back home Sunday night. It’ll be a short trip, but it’s something.

  Spending every waking minute with Kingston before he left to go on tour still wasn’t enough time. Our first night together sealed the deal for me. I’m all in with him. And he’s been gone for almost two weeks. He’s making good on all of his promises: he’s texting and calling constantly, and we Facetime every day. My apartment smells like a garden. My heart hurts when I can’t touch him.

  Penny and Davies have also been in almost constant communication. Before he left, they met up a couple of times, once for lunch and he came over to watch a movie at her place. She said they only kissed, but by the way she acts whenever she talks about him, I have to wonder if she’s being honest with me. I do know that she is quite smitten, so when I half-jokingly asked her if she thought we should surprise the guys and go to one of their shows, she said yes immediately and went online to start pricing out airline tickets.

  Dragging our carry-ons behind us, we make our way to the rental car area and pick up the car we reserved. All of this would’ve been cheaper and easier if I would’ve told Kingstone we were coming. He would’ve paid for our flights, and I don’t doubt he would’ve flown us first class. And I know he would’ve sent a car for us too, but it’s going to be fun to surprise him and see the look on his face when we show up.

  We’re given a compact car, a little red box, but it’ll do the trick. It’s about two and a half hours to get from the airport to The Gorge where the guys are playing. If we don’t get lost, we should be able to meet up with the guys for dinner before the show.

  “What do you think Kingston is going to say when we show up?” Penny asks.

  “He’s going to lose it. He’s been begging me to come and see him play just about every day. I stuck with the story and told him there would be no way to make it work.”

  “It’s hard being sneaky, isn’t it?” Penny says as she pulls out into traffic, scaring me half to death.

  Gripping the handle above my head, I say, “Can you please be careful? I’d like to be alive to see Kingston today.”

  Cars around us honk and swerve away from us as we take a turn at the last second. “This navigation system is confusing,” she says.

  Closing my eyes, I pray to the traffic gods to get to our destination safely. Thankfully, once we make our way out of the city, the traffic thins out and the directions seem clearer. I should have taken the wheel, knowing that Penny drives like a race car driver, but my nerves are on edge. It’s been two weeks since I’ve seen him and in my head, my expectations are high. “Do you think Kingston will be happy to see me?”

  Penny glances over at me with a furrowed brow and shakes her head. “Are you crazy? He’s going to be freaking ecstatic that you flew across the country to see him.”

  “You think?”

  “I know. Girl, he’s sent you flowers every day. Doesn’t he tell you all the time how much he misses you? He’s got it bad,” she says.

  “Listen, I know it’s hard to believe, but my ex screwed me up in the head. I thought things were one way, but it turns out it wasn’t. That’s why I second-guess everything with Kingston.”

  She reaches over and gives my leg a squeeze. “Stop doing that. Don’t make Kingston pay for all of Al’s sins. Kingston’s done nothing but show you how much he cares. I bet he jumps up and down when he sees you.”

  “I know you’re right. He’s been amazing. I can’t wait to see him.” And touch him. My body misses his hands and his mouth. Hopefully, we have enough time to get reacquainted before the show, but if not, I can wait until after.

  On our way through the beautiful state of Washington, I enjoy the landscape as we listen to all the Lawless albums. Leaving western Washington that’s lush and mountainous, we enter the central part of the state that’s laden with irrigation systems due to the contrasting dry weather here.

  “We’re getting close. Why don’t you text Kingston and ask where they are?” Penny suggests.

  Sending him a text, I expect a quick response. Unless he’s on stage, he gets right back to me. Almost immediately, he texts back. “They’re still at the hotel. I’m glad he told me where they were staying, so we know where to go.” I plug in the hotel address to the nav. It says we’re five miles away.

  “We’re going to be there soon.” The pitch of her voice is high and squeaky.

  Taking deep breaths, I prepare myself to be in Kingston’s arms shortly. A wave of adrenaline kicks in and my belly feels as if butterflies are batting their wings all around in there. A text alert dings on my phone. It’s him again asking what I’m up to.

  It’s hard for me not to tell him, but we’ve come this far. I won’t ruin the surprise now.

  I’m dreaming about you. What room are you? I’m going to pretend I’m coming to visit you.

  It’s a minute before he responds, but it feels like much longer.

  I’m in room 105. Let’s Facetime. We can pretend we’re together