CALVIN

“We had a moment,” I said, hefting up a giant box of bottled waters from the basement of Gabe’s bar. “That’s all. No big deal.”

 It was the next morning and I’d barely slept—between the adrenaline of Lucia’s kiss, and everything with the rockslides — I’d tossed and turned. Finally, I gave up and called Gabe, who had suggested morning beers.

Ahead of me, I heard his laughter. “You shared a moment with one of the most famous supermodels in the world?”

I kept hefting until we reached the bar. I hoisted the box up, breathing heavily.

“I know,” I said. “I too did not believe this was in the realm of possibility. Not in this world. Not in any world.”

“You’re a computer programmer from Silicon Valley,” Gabe said, reaching below the bar to grab me a beer. He tossed it and I dropped it, fumbling clumsily. When I stood up, I knocked my head against the bar.

“Ouch,” I said, rubbing the bump already forming.

“And you’re also…you know, you,” he said, grinning a mile wide.

“Thank you for your show of confidence,” I said, taking a sip. “And your friendship.”

He laughed, digging up a box of candles from the floor. “You think the power’s going to go out?”

“Probably,” I said. “Swarm of locusts next. Followed by some kind of plague. We haven’t had a big storm yet this year. This feels like it might be the one.”

“Ah. How romantic. Getting stuck in the dark, no power, raining outside? Might give you an opportunity to close the deal. With the supermodel.”

“Lucia,” I said quickly. “And she’s not just a supermodel, although that by itself is impressive.”

Gabe’s head titled. “Oh?”

“She’s…she’s really funny. And smart. And a total bookworm, like me. She’s got…layers.”

Gabe leaned against the bar, suddenly serious. “And she’s been on the cover of Maxim magazine, Cal. She’s next-level, out-of-your-league. Out of anyone’s league. You sure she’s not just bored and messing with you?”

I felt a flurry of butterflies in my stomach, because of course I worried she was just messing with me. Until last night, I had been sure of it, sure it was a harmless flirtation caused by the fact she wasn’t getting her usual affirmations from social media and gossip magazines.

Except I’d had her writhing on my lap with her hands pinned behind her back, my name on her lips. Totally vulnerable.

It had to be real.

Right?

I laughed, gulping down half the beer. “Fuck if I know,” I said, trying to keep it light. “So…Josie.”

Gabe’s grin was enormous.

“You like her, I guess?” I asked, liking this early morning beer-and-feelings meeting we were having.

He looked around, a comedic moment, since no one was in the bar.

“She’s incredible. Last night was incredible. I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t just the tiniest bit happy they’re stuck here. Does that make me a terrible person?”

“Nope, because I had the exact same thought,” I said grimly, because saying it out loud made it too real. Both of us were silent for a moment, weighing what that meant.

“What about when they leave?” I finally asked, wondering if pursuing Lucia would only make it hurt more.

“It’ll fucking suck,” Gabe said, swallowing half of his beer in one gulp. “And that’s why we’re not going to think about it. We’re just going to live in the moment, content with the fact that two absurdly beautiful women want to be around us…for reasons no rational person can comprehend.”

We knocked our beer bottles together at that and I nodded, agreeing. “Live in the moment. It’s what my grandfather would have said.

“Did it ever get this exciting in your old life?” Gabe asked. “I mean, technically, you’re leaving soon too, right?”

I’d completely forgotten the meeting I’d had yesterday, forever altering the destiny of The Mad Ones and my grandfather’s legacy. It felt so far away now, during a more innocent time when I hadn’t shared the best kiss of my entire life with Lucia Bell.

I sifted through a dozen answers, trying to defend the quiet life I’d led before this. But instead, rain pouring outside and my lips still swollen, I went with the truth.

“No, it never got this exciting. Not even a little,” I replied.

Gabe just looked at me, and I was grateful he didn’t try to convince me to stay one more time.

The rockslide was a brief reprieve, but a few days from now Lucia would be gone, back to her glamorous, famous life. And a month from now I’d be back in a cubicle.

◊