I nodded. I was fast reaching a point where I’d follow him anywhere, but given his earlier discomfort over meeting my parents, I didn’t share that thought with him. Instead, I let him lead me through the backstage maze to a narrow staircase. As we took the stairs at a fast clip, I had to grin again because he already knew me so well. An excuse to get my blood pumping and a little bit of mystery? Perfection.
At the top of the final flight, he opened an ancient metal door, which led to a flat rooftop rimmed by a low brick wall.
“Are we supposed to be up here?” Judging by the cigarette butts, pair of folding chairs, and random pieces of trash, we weren’t the first people to discover this spot, but the little hint of the forbidden made a thrill race through me nonetheless.
“Probably not.” Duncan smiled as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. “But you do love bending the rules.”
“I do.” Putting an arm around his shoulders, I hugged him close. “And I love this view. Thanks.”
The sky was starting to change colors, shifting closer to sunset as we approached the concert start time. In front of us, the Detroit skyline hung proud and stoic. Stately older buildings mingled with newer towers rising up around the rooftop where we stood. For a brief second, I was tempted to snap a pic for my social media feed, but the moment felt too private. Special. That was it. Standing here with him, on top of the world, was for me, not my gobs of followers, a distinction that had blurred the last few years but now seemed significant. This was for me. For us.
“Anytime.” Duncan pressed a fast kiss to my jaw, and I was so damn glad I hadn’t ruined things by reaching for my phone.
“See?” I squeezed him closer. “You do sweet things all the time. You’d totally be perfect boyfriend material.”
He wrinkled his nose and mouth like the evening air had taken on a rank odor. “That’s not a label I’ve ever aspired to.”
“Never?” I peered closer at him. I’d figured he likely had at least some exes scattered around, and yet again, I wanted to wrap his lonely existence in fuzzy blankets and give him all the cuddling he could stand. A guy this good deserved something warm and wonderful to come home to.
“Never. Dates, sure. I’m not celibate, but I never wanted to inflict the military deployment schedule on another person.”
“And that right there is another example of why you’d be a good boyfriend. You’re always thinking of other people. What about you? You deserve someone to care about, regardless of your schedule.”
“You’re the sweet one, assuming relationships work out versus ripping out hearts and laying waste to lives.” His caustic tone wasn’t quite enough to hide the edge of pain in his voice.
“Not everyone is your parents.”
“You gotta admit they are a prime example of why relationships never work. But there are plenty of others. Even people I know in seemingly-good relationships tend to end up unhappy eventually.”
“But some don’t.” I wasn’t sure why I was so desperate to prove his views of relationships wrong. “My parents are the counter-example. You’ll see. They’re so ridiculously happy even after like forty-odd years together. They might even change your cynical mind.”
“Perhaps.” His tone was carefully agreeable. He was likely counting on me moving on to another topic soon. Which I would, but I wasn’t changing my opinion that Duncan deserved far more happiness than he allowed himself.
“I can’t wait to bring you home.” I’d never meant those words more, and I had to hope I wasn’t setting us both up for a colossal disaster.
Chapter Twenty
Duncan
“Why do I feel like we landed in the middle of Mayberry?” I asked Ezra as I followed the GPS’s directions off the exit past a manicured sign welcoming us to A little slice of Ohio Heaven. We drove straight into a scene from some wholesome TV movie, bustling downtown with quirky, upscale shops and restaurants, families brunching on outdoor patios, and pristine sidewalks dotted with blooming flowerpot planters tying the whole scene up like a bow.
“We pretty much did.” Ezra stretched in the passenger seat. We’d had a brief tussle over who was driving the rental Kate had arranged. I’d won by promising Ezra a drive-thru coffee and the chance to sleep off the previous night’s show. Predictably, being Ezra, he’d skipped the nap in favor of an extra-large blended mocha with me, and now we were around an hour outside the city, and he was wide awake and all bouncy. “There are stacks of tourism articles calling it the iconic American small suburban town.”
“I’m betting the per capita minivan and large SUV ownership rate alone qualifies.” The sidewalks were filled with young families pushing shiny strollers, and the cars in the parking lots gleamed like the city had an ordinance against dust.